Unforeseen
by Live-WireLinx
Summary: When Sora is seriously injured during a fight that could have been avoided, what consequences follow?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters...and that makes me sad...

Well, this is my first story so I hope its somewhat good. But please read and review and let me know what you guys think. Thanks! I'll put up the next chapter, but then it's up to the reviews to coax me into posting another chapter. But, other than that...ENJOY!

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**Unforeseen**

She couldn't help the smile that appeared. But as much as she tried, she just couldn't help it; it was the way he was looking at her. His eyes were lit with fury and hurt pride, and his fists were clutched at his side in an attempt to sooth his hurt ego.

"You don't think I can do it?!?!?" He shouted, a childish pout now replacing the frown he was wearing a few seconds ago.

Placing her hands on her hips, Kairi nodded a stern look on her face as she stared Sora down.

"I didn't say it that way though," She defended. "I just think it's a stupid waste of time. What if you get hurt? It's not like you need to fight him any way, right?"

A triumphant smile broke out into full view as Sora was left speechless.

"Well that isn't the point." Sora began. "You don't understand Kairi, I _HAVE_ to do it. It's a matter of pride." Sora explained, arms crossing in front of his chest.

Donald and Goofy stayed a few yards away, exchanging knowingly looks with smirks in place. Neither intended to intervene, no matter which way the conversation went.

Sighing, Kairi nodded. Sora froze as Kairi encircled him in a tight hug, her face burying into his chest. After a few seconds of nothing, Sora slowly enclosed her in a tight hug while staring off into the distance.

"Just come back to me." She whispered while relinquishing the hold she had on him.

Smiling, Sora nodded as he stepped back towards Donald and Goofy.

"No worries… I always will." He whispered back, a blush creeping over his cheeks as Donald and Goofy chuckled behind their hands.

Kairi looked on as Sora led the way back to their shuttle. The roar of the Gummi ship drowned out the sounds of the waves as it blasted off in the direction of Hallow Bastion, now known as Radiant Garden. She watched a bit longer, her hand shielding her eyes as the ship became a dot in the sky and until it disappeared entirely from view.

Reaching up with her left hand, she clutched her lucky charm, allowing the waves crashing upon the beach to sooth her worried thoughts.

* * *

"I thought she wasn't goin' to let you go." Frowning, Sora glanced over his left shoulder to gaze back at Donald. 

"And what gave you that idea?" Sora prompted as their Gummi ship made its way to their destination. Donald glanced at Goofy who wisely stayed out of their discussion before explaining.

"Well……..when I first was with Daisy, I did everything she wanted me too." Sora grinned as Donald blushed, waving his arms in a vain attempt to save grace. "It's not like she made me or anything," Goofy broke out into laughter, but Donald continued. "I did all that stuff because, well…….. I love her."

"I think he's talkin' 'bout puppy love." Goofy interjected. Donald growled and swung at the knight with his newly synthesized Save the Queen.

"I know, I know." Sora responded, holding up his hands to ward of any attacks that came his way. "But I know the feeling. But after this, I'll be her eternal slave." He chuckled, folding his hands to rest behind his neck.

Donald sighed as he rested back in his seat, glaring at Goofy who had a noticeable lump upon his head. "Well, we're here." Sora announced as their ship neared Radiant Garden in what seemed like record time.

"Yep. Ready for round two?" Goofy asked, still clutching the lump that Donald had formed. Sora felt familiar serge of energy flow through him.

"Of course I am!! I can't wait!" He shouted, jumping off the pilot's seat to stand. He spun around to face his two companions, a huge grin on his face.

"Let's go." Donald and Goofy looked at each other, eyebrows raised, but nodded none the less.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters...and that makes me sad...

Well, this is my first story so I hope it's somewhat good. But please read and review and let me know what you guys think. Thanks! This is the second chapter…no duh, but I just need a little bit of encouragement before adding another chapter. Reviews are much appreciated.

* * *

**Unforeseen**

As suspected, the trio neared Sephiroth in the Dark Depths. Sephiroth stood overlooking the ruins of the castle; only the gentle breeze stirred his hair and fluttered through his wing.

Glancing over to both Donald and Goofy, he took a deep breath. "Here we go again." He whispered to them as they drew nearer to the figure.

This was supposed to be a simple conversation, nothing more than seeing what the angel was doing. But knowing his luck, he was better off preparing for a battle…once again. Taking a deep breath, Sora approached Sephiroth.

"What is Cloud doing?" Startled, Sora looked back at Donald and Goofy who shrugged in response.

"Beats me." He responded, turning to focus on the warrior once again.

"I see. You three…" Turning sharply, Sephiroth drew his Masamune out, pointing it threateningly at the three. The three friend's barely had time to jump out of harm's way, their weapons appearing on command.

"Who are you?" He questioned, eyes trained with Sora's.

"I'm not sure we should tell ya." Goofy shouted from behind Sora, hiding behind his shield as Sephiroth's gaze fell on him.

"That's an interesting sword you're caring." That almost sounded sarcastic, Sora mused.

"It's the keyblade!" Donald corrected.

"I see….so that's a keyblade." He scoffed. "And I suppose you must be its chosen wielder."

"So what if I am?" Sora questioned, drawing the keyblade closer to his side.

"I wonder if it won't change its mind – once I defeat you." The fallen angel stated, outstretching his wing and drawing up his sword.

* * *

The barrier that always came up during battles appeared, separating the two fighters from the two spectators. 

Sora faced Sephiroth, the Ultima weapon held tightly in his grasp as the one winged angel drew up his weapon to strike.

"That's enough." Startled, Sora took a step back as the warrior charged at him. All that he could make out of the Masamune was a blur of silver as it streaked dangerously close to him. Raising up his keyblade, Sora blocked the blows he could, only allowing a few to graze him.

Jumping away form Sephiroth, Sora turned to face him.

"What's wrong? Are you scared?" Sephiroth asked, his smooth deep voice causing him to shiver.

Gulping, Sora reached into his left pouch and pulled out a potion just as Sephiroth disappeared in a warp of black. Nervously, Sora glanced around as he used the potion, keeping the keyblade close to his side.

A sudden gust tipped him off as the angel reappeared directly behind him. But without enough time to react, Sora was sent upward into the sky as Sephiroth delivered an upper slash to his back before disappearing once again. Gritting his teeth, Sora corrected himself in mid air as Sephiroth reappeared, slashing violently before vanishing, leaving only a trail of black feathers.

Landing, Sora glanced around for Sephiroth, ignoring his injuries. "That's enough." A voice called behind him. More prepared this time, Sora blocked the barrage of sword slashes. Quickly, he turned around as the warrior regained himself from his elegant pose and slashed at him repeatedly. Not expecting such a quick recovery, the one winged angel was sent back as Sora continued his assault.

Sora raised his keyblade to deliver a devastating blow, only to make contact with air and feathers. "This is not fair." Sora muttered glancing back at Donald and Goofy who stared at the battle with wonder.

Sephiroth reappeared, slowly stalking his way to his prey, just as a cat would do to a mouse. The two charged at each other, their blades clashing against one another as they struggled to overpower the other.

"Perish now." Was all Sora heard as three pillars of flames shot up form where they stood. The flames licked at his exposed skin, scorching the outfit he wore and making the keyblade almost unbearable to hold on to. Biting his lip against the overwhelming pain, he released his weapons battle with Sephiroth and tried to make his way out of the flames that engulfed the area. Using all the strength he could, he managed to resist the pull the pillars generated and settled a few feet from the fire show.

Clutching his side, Sora raised his keyblade. "Heal!" He shouted as the green glow enveloped him just as the fires had died down.

Sephiroth stood in the middle of the dying flames, a gleam in his eye as he disappeared.

Sora sighed in frustration as he jumped into the air, barely missing the Masamune as it hacked through the space where he once stood.

Bearing down, Sora sent the keyblade directly into Sephiroth's back, earning a cry from the proud warrior as he was sent into the air. Pushing off of the ground, Sora jumped up after him, delivering all the blows he could before Sephiroth could disappear.

"Give into the dark." Landing, Sora quickly glanced around to see what new attacks would come. Sephiroth raised his left hand, calling several dark orbs as he charged at Sora. Jumping up once again, Sora met Sephiroth as the two exchanged blows mid air. Sephiroth jumped back just as the orbs rushed forwards to their target.

Sora barely let out a cry of pain before several impacts hit his body. Regaining his balance, Sora used Cura again as the warrior charged once again at him.

Dodging the furious attacks, Sora landed several hits of his own, causing Sephiroth to fly back in surprise. Landing on the ground once again, Sora looked up to the warrior before managing to put some distance between the two... for safety reasons.

The one winged angel outstretched his wing into the air, murmuring to himself as a red glow enveloped him. Frowning, Sora rushed towards him and delivered several hits.

Almost none of his hits made contact. A small shield protected Sephiroth as all his blows were deflected. The shield disappeared as the warrior took the oppurtunity and swung at Sora, sending the keyblade master stumbling backward. With wide eyes, Sora watched as Sephiroth rushed around the battle area with an amazing amount of speed.

"_Maybe this wasn't the greatest idea."_ Roxas muttered within Sora's head. Sora frowned, his eyes still trying to keep up with Sephiroth's unbelievable moves.

"I don't need to hear this right now." Sora gritted back as he dodged a sword swipe from Sephiroth.

Sephiroth disappeared once again, leaving Sora to regain his composure.

A soft murmuring caught his ear once again. Turning around, he saw the warrior floating aimlessly, the same red glow from earlier enveloping him. "Oh no you don't." Sora growled out, rushing towards Sephiroth with his keyblade at his side. A similar red glow began to appear around him, but unfazed, he kept charging on.

A sudden, instant wave of pain left Sora skidding to his knees. All his old wounds came back full force.

"What..?" Was all he managed to blurt out as Sephiroth came charging at him. Back pedaling, he managed to avoid any blow that was intended to finish him off before being able to glide a safe distance away.

"Heal!" He shouted, staring angrily at Sephiroth. The one winged angel chuckled before taking his position in mid air once again.

Bracing himself, Sora watched and waited for an opportunity to strike. Grinning, he spotted it and rushed forwards to capitalize on the small opening.

Sephiroth merely chuckled, as he released his meteors. With wide eyes, Sora instantly changed course, pivoting on his heels, and running away from the balls of molten rocks that fell out of the sky at him. An explosion a few feet from him caused Sora to jump up in to the air only to take a meteor to the back.

The impact sent Sora bouncing off the ground before skidding to a stop. Hurriedly, he regained his footing to jump into the air to avoid the large rocks being hurled in his general direction. Watching the explosion of rock meeting rock, he felt grateful for learning how to glide.

The never ending barrage finally ended. Touching ground, he placed his hand on his knees and tried desperately to catch his breathe. Wearily, Sora watched as Sephiroth disappeared, leaving the battle field devastated with craters and scorches.

Pondering, Sora faced the direction where Sephiroth suddenly reappeared at. Folding his left arm, to his body, he brought up his right arm and laid his index finger against his temple, tapping the side of his head lightly.

He didn't have time to ponder much as Sephiroth disappeared once again. He pulled himself out of his pondering posture and readied his Ultima keyblade in his right hand, his left hand outstretched.

Sephiroth materialized before him, his black feathers swirling fiercely in the vortex he just created.

"_Its' worth a try."_ Roxas spoke.

Criss-crossing his arms in front of him, he summoned a second keyblade to his left hand to join his first. Taken aback by the light the keyblade produced, Sephiroth shielded his eyes slightly, gazing questioningly at the small spectacle.

The light slowly died, revealing a smirking blond with hair swept to the side. He was wearing baggy pants and a white vest adorned with black designs along with a checkered bracelet on his left wrist. With his arms still crossed in front of him, both the Ultima and Oblivon keyblade in his grasp, he swung either to his side, chasing away the light fragments he had produced. His piecing blue eyes met Sephiroth's before fading back into the brunette Keyblade bearer he was familiar with.

Without mercy, Sora swung both the Ultima and Oblivion keyblade at the stunned angel, aiming for his weapon. Effectively, the Masamune was ripped out of Sephiroths clutches, spinning in the air before falling to the floor with a dull thud. Sephiroth shifted his weight mid air, causing Sora's swing with the Ultima weapon to miss him by mere inches. The Oblivion keyblade swung at him next but made no hit. Sora gritted his teeth as Sephiroth held his left wrist with an open palm.

Swinging the Ultima keyblade down, Sora released a cry of frustration as Sephiroth merely held his attack at bay with another open palm to his wrist.

Sephiroth chuckled, tossing the Keyblade Master aside while bending over to pick up his fallen weapon.

Sora landed with a thud, kicking up a small amount of dirt. Propping himself up on his elbows, he watched as Sephiroth leaned over and casually began dusting off his Masamune. Shakily, Sora stood, dusting himself off as well.

Oblivion flickered briefly in his hand before fading all together.

"We'll it worked for a while." Sora muttered to himself, watching as the light shards slowly faded.

A slight noise caused him to look up. "Aww..." He groaned out as he spotted the black feathers falling freely.

Jumping into the air, he slashed at any and all directions around him, hoping to land a lucky hit. A dark portal appeared before him as the two meet in mid air, exchanging blows.

Landing on the ground, Sora swung the Ultima keyblade upwards, striking Sephiroth who was charging down at him. Taking the opportunity, he landed two more devastating strikes on the warrior who reeled back.

Everything seemed to slow down as the two made eye contact. Floating proudly a few feet away, Sephiroth touched down.

He re sheathed his sword and began dusting himself off.

"How'd you like that?" Sora asked, a smirk on his face as he watched for a sign of another round to their match.

Not meeting the keyblade masters eyes, Sephiroth continued to dust himself off before answering.

"I admit you're very skilled…but apparently, Cloud is the only one who can eliminate me."

Sora pulled himself out of his fighting stance to stand fully. He stared at the warrior who made no effort to look at him. Sephiroth finally glanced at him before turning to face the ruins of the city as he had been doing before their battle.

"_Must hurt to lose."_

Sora grinned at the thought Roxas popped into his head.

"Tell Cloud to come here."

Cocking his head, Sora raised a brow at the figure. Slightly, Sephiroth glanced over his shoulder to give him an indication that he was indeed talking to him.

"Tell him Sephiroth is looking to settle things."

That was it? Sora frowned, slightly bummed. Literally he dragged the keyblade by his side as he turned towards where Donald and Goofy were.

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Explanation & Stuff: Tell me what you guys think! It really does matter to me. Plus, I need to see if it's worth the effort to put up another chapter. And, I have to explain what the stories following. For this story, Sora, after doing the whole big battle thing at the end of the game, decides to fight Sephiroth. This takes place after the battle and just before they recieve any letter from the King. Hope that helps a bit. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters...and that makes me sad...

Well, this is my first story so I hope it's somewhat good. But please read and review and let me know what you guys think. Thanks! I'll post as much as I feel would get the story some interest, then it would be up to the reviews to coax me into more posts.

* * *

**Unforeseen**

"You won Sora!" Goofy cried out behind the barrier that was still erected. Sora couldn't help but chuckle, the knight's face was pressed to the barrier, bending his nose to a painful looking degree.

"You did it!" Donald shouted also, jumping up and down next to Goofy.

Slowly, the thought finally sank in.

He won.

He really did win.

Sora couldn't help but break out into a wide grin. Swinging the Ultima weapon over his shoulder, he walked over to where Donald and Goofy stood, beaming from a well earned victory.

"I won." He announced proudly to both Goofy and Donald as the barrier separating them dissipated. Donald and Goofy rushed over to him, ready with hugs and words of encouragement.

"You were great Sora!" Goofy exclaimed while waving his shield about. Donald nodded his approval as the three turned back to walk to the town.

"Where to now?" Donald asked, glancing up at Sora as they walked.

"Well, we're off to go get Cloud."

Sora dismissed his keyblade as he led the way to the town. Goofy and Donald walked a few paces ahead, caught up in reliving the battle with enthusiasm. Sora smiled fondly at the two friends, stopping to allow the two to put more distance between them. Sora glanced over his shoulder in the direction where Sephiroth stood. Still, the angel stayed unmoving while overlooking the ruins of the castle as they first found him to be doing.

Nothing beat being able to gloat about a well-deserved victory.

"Well? Hurry up!!" Donald shouted, tapping his webbed foot in impatience as they proceeded onward. Starring a bit longer at the warrior, Sora nodded to himself before turning to jog after the pair when a sharp, unbearable pain shot up through his body, paralyzing him in an instant. His blue eyes were wide with fear and pain as Donald and Goofy spun around to see what the matter was. Their reaction said it all.

Slowly, as if in a dream, he glanced from their horrified faces to the sword that protruded straight through his chest. The blade glistened in the suns bright rays, its silver color coated with his blood. His mind was racing, and the reality of it all seemed so far fetched that he was having a difficult time grasping the situation.

With shaky hands, Sora reached up to grasp the blade. Slowly, as if unsure, he wrapped both hands around the thin, yet sturdy blade. Clutching it, he desperately tried to pry it out of his body, managing only to drag the blade further into him. Blood slowly oozed out from his palms and over the stained blade from where he was grasping it so hard.

"Never turn your back on an enemy." Sephiroth scolded, his black wing brushing by Sora as the Keyblade wielder fell to his knees before him.

With a scowl, Sephiroth slowly pulled back the bloodied weapon with little care, relishing the cry of pain released by the boy before him. Donald and Goofy rushed towards them, weapons drawn as they prepared to defend their comrade. Slowly, Sephiroth rose into the air, his eyes sight drawn to the hunched over boy before disappearing.

"Sora!! Oh gosh!" Goofy cried out, rushing to catch Sora as he slumped forward, slowly drifting into unconsciousness.

"Cura!!" Donald shouted, tears streaming down his face. The green glow enveloped Sora, but the wound still bleed heavily.

Glancing up at Donald, Goofy looked around for any solution. "We gotta get him to Merlin's." Donald ordered, helping Goofy place Sora over the knights' shoulder.

In a flash, they rushed off in the direction of the town. "Please hang on." Donald begged as he followed closely behind, weapon drawn. They were extremely vulnerable right now, and if any enemies came, the wizard was sure to defend the keyblade wielder.

They rushed passed the bailey and down the massive flight of stairs and into the town. Goofy rounded the corner when a blur knocked him off his feet, sending him into a nearby wall. Sora slid off the knight's shoulder from the impact and tumbled a few feet away before coming to a halt on the cobblestone path.

"Goofy!" Donald cried out, as the heartless moved in on them. Goofy stood up, his knees buckled but he refused to give up as he summoned Save the King to his aid. Looking over their shoulders, the two made sure Sora was safe before heading off into battle.

A swipe of his staff sent many of the heartless sailing, but more would replace the fallen.

"Gawsh, there's too many of them!" Goofy cried out as he blocked an attack.

A burst of light enveloped the two as they disappeared from where they stood. The light continued to shine as it enveloped around Sora as both the knight and wizard merged with him. "Give me strength!" Sora cried out, his voice strained as a surge of energy passed through him.

His back arched from the ground with the sheer force of strength it was taking from him, but he gritted his teeth against the pain as he was up righted by a strong flow of wind. The howling gusts died down as he floated a few inches from the ground, both the Ultima and Oblivion Keyblade swirling lazily around him as his clothing turned from black to a ghostly silver stained with his blood.

Sora rushed towards his enemies, letting the keyblades attack at their own will. In a furry of movements, the heartless were gone, leaving only munny and orbs in their wake. The swirling wind around him flickered unsteadily, causing the blades to waver as the dying wind struggled to keep the objects airborne. With a clang from each weapon, the two fell to the ground, disappearing in a flash of light once they served their purpose. Shaking and breathing heavily, Sora fell out of his Final Form as soon as his feet touched ground before collapsing to his hands and knees, allowing both Donald and Goofy to reappear before him. He met their worried gazes before allowing his eyes to slip shut.

"Sora!" They both cried out as he slumped forward. "Why I ought 'ta…" Donald began but refused to finish his sentence as Goofy picked up the now limp form and ran the few yards left to Merlin's house.

"Merlin! Merlin!" Donald shouted as they broke through the door, glancing around in a panicked state, looking for the wizard. Looking up from his book, the old wizard frowned at the noisy intrusion but stopped an oncoming lecture upon seeing Sora unconscious in Goofy's grip.

"What in the kings name?!" He shouted, jumping up from his seat all the while urging the knight to place the keyblade wielder down upon his bed. Frantically, the wizard looked over the chosen boy as the blood continued to pour out from the gap in the boy's stomach. With a flick of his hand, the wizard summoned his bag closer to his side and hastily searched through it as it settled on the bed beside him. In a flash, the wizard removed the torn pieces of clothing Sora wore, revealing the heavily bleeding wound.

"Goofy, I think it would be best for you to wash yourself." Merlin stated, not looking up from his charge while pulling out a bottle of herbs and a cloth. Goofy looked himself over, barely realizing that he was covered in Sora's blood. Paling slightly, the knight nodded to himself and moved to do as Merlin said.

Donald watched as Goofy left, looking about as bad as he felt. Slowly, the sorcerer turned his attention to Merlin. Working feverishly, the wizard muttered as he dug through his bag, stopping only to concentrate on Sora.

A large needle followed by some strong thread was summoned from the bag. Taking the tools, Merlin leaned over Sora, his brow's furred together as he concentrated on stitching the open wound.

"Donald."

Startled, Donald rushed up to the wizard. "Help me turn him onto his stomach." Donald nodded, taking Sora's shoulders and slowly rolling him over, taking care not to injure the boy further. As soon as the task was done, Merlin proceeded to work upon Sora's gaping wound on his back. Bloodied rags were thrown about as they each filled up with blood.

"Will…will he be alright?" Donald asked, peaking over Merlin to glance at his friend.

Sighing, the wizard nodded slowly while finishing up addressing the deep wound and finally stitching it shut.

"For some reason, magic doesn't seem to work on this wound very well. May I inquire as to who inflicted it?" Gulping, Donald nodded. "It was Sephiroth." Merlin stayed quiet for a while before lifting himself from his crouching position to pace. "Well, that may explain it. Sephiroth is neither a heartless nor a nobody. When he inflicts damage…" Merlin trailed off, glancing at Donald before looking back down at Sora. "His victim rarely survives. But do not worry. Sora is a strong lad, he'll pull through."

"Here, help me bandage him up. It will be a serious issue if he were to tear out all those stitches." Taking the cloth, Donald slid it over Sora's exposed back, now caked with dried with blood. After the main injury was attended too, they focused their attention to the deep cuts Sora obtained on both his palms. The two wizards continued in silence as they finished the job of bandaging and cleaning.

Donald managed to crack a small smile as the worst was finally over. The wizard seated himself on the chair opposite of the bed that Sora was laying in, letting out a sigh as he settled down to rest. The beaten up blue chair creaked under his weight, and dust accumulated in the air, but that barely caused a reaction.

Merlin walked up to the wizard, laying a comforting hand over his shoulder.

"The wound was very clean. Thankfully, the sword managed, by some small miracle, to miss his spinal column. He has lost a lot of blood, but thankfully, you were close enough to get some assistance."

Donald stayed quiet, his eyes trained on Sora who now lay on his back. "Of course, I would need to change those bed sheets." Merlin muttered, looking over at the sheets now tainted a deep maroon color due to the blood. "But he is still very fragile. I do not wish to move him just yet."

Merlin exited the room, leaving Donald to his thoughts. After a short time, Goofy reemerged wearing his old armor; his body was still damp from the shower he under went. "Is he alright?" Goofy asked, looking at Donald with worry.

"Merlin said he will be ….but…" Goofy's head dipped, but his eyes held out determination. "He'll be fine." Goofy whispered, taking a seat on the arm of the chair next to Donald. The knight and wizard stayed silent, their gazes ever vigilant over their friend.

"Wonder what the King will do to us. I mean, we we're suppose to be watchin' Sora." Donald frowned, not wanting to think of the scolding they were to receive.

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Read and Review please!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters...and that makes me sad...but the idea for this is mine, and mine alone.

Well, this is my first story so I hope it's somewhat good. But please read and review and let me know what you guys think. Thanks! And to answer **Lilvtshadow**'s question, honestly, their is no real pairings, but later, I'll figure out who will be together and who won't be together. Yeppers, not much turning in my ol' noggin' about that.

* * *

**Unforeseen**

_It was dark. He mused. But he was use to it by now. The only light laminating the blank abyss was that of his own body and that of the one that lay before him, curdled up to one side._

_From his place against a black wall, he tilted his head slightly, watching as his other slept on in a blissful sleep, unaware of the situation he, no, they were in._

"_You really are a lazy bum." He murmured as the figured finally stirred._

"_Huh?" A groggy voice echoed back in response._

_Smiling, the figure pushed himself off the wall opposite of the figure and walked closer. _

"_Awake yet?" He questioned, fully not expecting a coherent reply back._

_A yawn came as a response. "Almost." His other yawned out, stretching from his place on the black floor. _

"_You know. It's really weird talking to yourself." _

_Sora grinned lazily, stopping his stretching to look up at Roxas._

"_Ya. But at least we have something in common." He stated, breaking into a broad grin. Slowly, Sora sat up while continuing his stretching, his arms out above his head. _

_Roxas chuckled as he sat across from his other. _

"_You know, their really worried about you." Roxas informed bluntly. _

_Sora stopped his stretching to look at Roxas, their twin eyes meeting. "I didn't mean too…" He trailed off, letting his hands fall to his lap, casting his gaze to the pitch black floor._

"_Where are we anyway?" Sora questioned after a while of silence, not bothering to look back at his nobody. _

"_In your mind, I guess you can say…. Blank isn't it?" Roxas grinned, watching as Sora frowned in response. _

"_Not blank, just….not filled." Chuckling, Roxas stood up while extending a hand to his other. _

_Sora took the outstretched hand as both stared at each other. _

"_So…why do I feel fine?" Sora asked, breaking eye contact to look himself over. He examined his stomach, searching for the exit wound the sword had taken. Turning over his hands, he searched for the cuts he had on his palms, but found nothing, not even a scar._

"_Well, this is a sort of seclusion spot for you…for us. We cannot feel pain here. It's just a way to get away from it all." Nodding, Sora looked around at the vast emptiness surrounding them._

"_So…now what?" Roxas smiled in response, but it quickly faded._

_Sora clenched his eyes shut as a rush of pain came to him, causing him to double over. Rushing to his side, Roxas lay a comforting hand on Sora's back. "What's wrong?" He asked, searching for any signs of discomfort._

_Sora cracked his eyes open to look at his nobody, tears swelling and the pain clearly showing. "My heart." He whimpered, clutching desperately at the area where his heart rested in. Roxas frowned as he watched the expression on Sora's face turn to pure agony._

_Sora let out a cry of pain through clenched teeth, digging his fingers into the area just above his heart. Roxas followed Sora to the ground as he knelt by the pain stricken form with concern._

"_What's happening?" Sora asked, fighting the pain and wave of nausea. _

"_I don't know." Roxas replied before Sora was ripped out of the seclusion he thought he had in his mind._

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Short, I know. But I thought this would be a good teaser. I'm not much for reading a good story and then, suddenly, you have to wait. It's like the ultimate bummer. But it does feel good to be able to finally tease! Ya for me! My first tease/cliffhanger!! As much as I hate to leave people hanging, I will gladly do it this time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters...and that makes me sad...but the idea for this is mine, and mine alone.

Thank you all for your kind reviews and encouragement. I would be lying if I told you guys that I'm doing this story as I go, but I do have quiet a few chapters complete so little by little, I'll add them. Just keep checkin' up, and hopefully each time you visit, they'll be a new chappie up for the reading. Thanks for all the reviews again!

* * *

**Unforeseen**

"Common Donald, we have to protect Sora!" Growling at the comment, Donald launched an all out attack on the heartless that stormed into Merlin's house. The wizard, however, was no where to be found, leaving the two to defend Sora.

"Sora!" Goofy cried out as he swatted away a heartless that grabbed at the prone boy.

The heartless could sense that he was weakened, and when one fell, ten more would replace the fallen one. With a cry of frustration, Donald let lose a barrage of magic spells, ignoring the fact that they were indoors. Goofy threw his shield at the mass of bodies surrounding him. There seemed to be no end.

The once wide, open area was enveloped in darkness, no funiture other than the bed could be seen. The heartless cramed together on the floor and now were scailing up the walls to take a shot at the downed keyblade master.

Suddenly, a dark portal appeared by the bed that Sora lay in. The heartless stopped what they were doing and parted without order as Maleficent stepped through, her eyes trained on the boy before her.

"NO!" Donald cried, rushing at Maleficent only to be thrown back by the many forms of heartless.

"SORA!!" Rushing his way past the throng of heartless, Goofy managed to break free of the crowd and straight toward Maleficent.

With no more than a spare glance, Maleficent waved her hand, sending the knight back into the mass of heartless.

"Protect?" She chuckled as she over looked the keyblade wielder, overhearing what the Knight had said. "What a fine job you two have been doing." She mocked, chuckling as she leaned towards the prone form.

"Pete!" She called out angrily. In a flash, a second portal opened, and Pete stepped through it some what reluctantly.

"Uh…you called Maleficent?" Sighing, Maleficent pointed at Donald and Goofy. "Make sure they do not interfere."

Pete nodded as he led the attack on the two, making sure as to buy Maleficent some time.

With the distraction taken care of, Maleficent turned back to the boy. With little care for his newly tended injuries, she hefted Sora by his neck and off the bed.

"I would have never thought this to be easy." She said, letting out a small evil chuckle as she watched for any signs of the boy's revival. The only movement Sora did was the swaying of his feet as she dangled him with little effort up off the floor.

Releasing her hold of Sora's neck with her right hand, she casually placed it over his heart. A smile appeared as he began to wither in pain as the hand began to enter his body and proceeded towards his heart.

"No." Sora whispered through the pain, finally coming too. Almost immediately, his arms flew to where her left hand held his neck, seeking in a vain attempt to release himself from the terrible pain. Desperately, he clawed at her hand, digging his nails into her skin, drawing faint trails of blood. She simply ignored the small, almost mosquito bite-like pain.

Maleficent watched his pathetic struggles with a victorious smirk as she delved deeper, finally reaching her prize. "It looks like I will get my kingdom after all." She whispered to him as she pulled out his heart, feeling the arms prying at her left hand fall away limply.

With a finally grunt of pain, the heart left its host with little resistance. The small object glowed brilliantly against her pale hand.

"Now, to turn you into a heartless." Sora let his unseeing blue eyes meet Maleficent's.

With a small, but confident grin reflecting Maleficent's own, Sora replied, "You wish." His voice was raspy and strained. With the last of his strength gone, Sora's eyes fell shut as he hung limply in Maleficent's grasp.

Frowning, Maleficent grasped the heart she held tightly, pondering the ramblings of the keyblade wielder. Was that the after affect of losing such a vital part of one's body?

"No matter. He will make an excellent servant." She muttured to herself. Releasing the heart she held, she proceeded to imbed her right hand into Sora's body again when a brilliant light shown around the body she held.

With a cry of pain, Maleficent let the body she held fall to the ground, unable to stand the purity of the light that surrounded it. Maleficent shielded herself as best she could with her cloak as the light dimmed down. Scowling deeply, she looked up to see another boy step into her path. His unearthly glow illuminated the area, sending the weakest heartless reeling.

The glow slowly faded, revealing a familiar figure. Roxas growled as he crouched into a battle position, letting both the Oblivion keyblade and Oathkeeper appear in either of his hands. Backing away slightly, Maleficent scowled as she reached to clutch the heart that floated about.

Roxas stepped forward, placing himself protectivly in front of Sora's unmoving body as a last defense. "Give me back my heart." He growled out, slashing at the heartless queen with both keyblade's. With graceful moves, Maleficent dodged the furious swipes with little effort. With pinpoint accuracy, Roxas swung the Oblivion keyblade upward, catching Maleficent's hand that held their heart. With a cry of pain, the heart was released.

Maleficent held her torn hand. She glared at the nobody while weighing her options. She barred her teeth at him and with a cry of frustration; she retreated into her portal as quickly as she had appeared.

"I will be back." She stated, her eyes trained with Roxas' as the darkness enveloped her.

Roxas watched as she retreated, and slowly dismissed the two keyblades once he deemed the vicinity to be safe.

Glancing up, he could make out the heart as it floated upwards toward the ceiling with little signs of coming back down. Frowning slightly, Roxas crouched low and jumped up. Outstretching his hand, he neared the shimmering heart. Roxas enclosed his hands gently around the bright object when a giant object flashed by him and came down above him with crushing speed.

With little preparation, Roxas felt the heart slip through his grasp as Pete slammed him into the table in the middle of Merlin's house. The tables legs instantly gave out, sending splinters and books sailing into the air. "Well there is a good use for my weight after all." Pete stated, proud with his efforts. Now, to show Maleficent what he had done….

Glancing quickly around, Pete looked at the heartless to both Donald and Goofy and finally to Roxas who lay beneath his weight. "Where did she go?" He questioned as he scratched the side of his head, not really expecting a reply.

"She….ran…" Roxas gritted out, his hands flailing about in an attempt to gain some leverage.

"She did what!?!?!" Roxas let out a sigh of relief as the weight above him eased off. Pete looked stunned as he glanced quickly around the room in search for his boss. Clenching his gloved fists to his side, Pete stomped on the floor angrily. "I was soooo close!" He cried out as he ran into a portal that formed by him.

Slowly, Roxas pushed himself into a sitting position. Tentatively, he arched his back, earning a loud crack as his spin readjusted itself. Flinching, the nobody stood up, a hand rubbing his back gingerly.

"Oh no." Roxas quickly looked up. His blue eyes darted, focusing on objects around the room in search of the heart.

He was vaguely aware of the commotion behind him.

"Sora!!" Both Goofy and Donald yelled out as they ran to Sora's side.

"What happened?" Goofy asked, gently turning Sora over to lie comfortably on his back. Donald shook his head at the question. "I don't know…" He trailed off as they heard the sounds of books falling and the rustling within the house.

"Who are you?!" A voice demanded behind him. Choosing to ignore the voice, Roxas rushed around the decimated remains of Merlin's house, toppling over chairs and lamps as he plundered about. "It's gotta be here." He whispered to himself, a form of motivation that kept the dim hope he had lit. With little care, he carelessly tossed aside books and papers, something he was sure the owner of the house would not appreciate very much.

"Uh…who is he?" Roxas stopped to glance over at the two forms behind him. The heartless had vanished as soon as Maleficent retreated; the lagers were easily dealt with by the two faithful friends.

Scowling, Roxas turned back to his search. "That's not important right now. We need to find that heart." Donald looked up at Goofy, an eyebrow raised.

Motioning Goofy to stay by Sora, Donald approached the boy cautiously, brandishing his weapon. "What heart?" Roxas stopped searching, his hands flying up to clutch his hair in frustration.

"I can't believe it! It's gone!" Roxas yelled out as he tugged at his hair furiously, stomping at the floor in an attempt to vent off some steam. Donald slowly backed away, his hands clutched tightly around his save the queen staff.

Dropping his hands from his hair, Roxas slowly turned to look at Donald and Goofy. "Do you know who I am?" He questioned, his eyes looking sadly at the two.

Goofy gave him a once over from his seat on the floor, his eyebrow's furred together in concentration. "Well, you look familiar." Donald nodded, his left foot tapping the floor impatiently.

Roxas chuckled dryly, a ghost of a smile appearing over his lips. "Ya. You can say that." Donald frowned at him, his arms crossing in front of his chest.

"Well then, who are you?" He asked again, this time a little more irritated.

"I'm Roxas." He introduced himself, motioning to Sora. "I'm Sora's nobody."

It was almost comical the way the two reacted. Their jaws dropped down, and their eyes became impossibly wide.

"Bu—b-but how?" Goofy asked, looking down at Sora's pale body.

_'Shouldn't they have known about me?'_ He asked himself, looking incredulous at the two for their lack of knowledge. But then again, Sora didn't really surround himself with the brightest of friends.

Carefully, Roxas side stepped the remains of the table to examine Sora. Kneeling, he placed his right hand over Sora's forehead. The skin was cold to the touch. Sora's normal skin tone was now a pale, ashy color, making the color of his own skin look tan.

"We need to get him to a safe place." Roxas stated, choosing to ignore the question Goofy asked. Donald looked over at Goofy, unsure of what to do next.

"Well…" There was a pause. "What about the king's castle? It's safe." Goofy asked, looking at Roxas. Roxas looked up from Sora's body to meet Goofy's gaze before glancing back down at the unmoving body, removing his hand as he stood up.

Roxas nodded. "That'll have to do." He said as he moved to help Goofy heft Sora by his shoulder, letting Donald handle Sora's legs. Donald carefully maneuvered around the shattered room before stepping onto the door that had been broken down by the stampede of heartless.

Carefully, Donald summoned the Gummi ship to their location, eyeing their surroundings in case of another attack. Goofy shifted Sora in his grasp, his eyes trained on the ship that came into view. Dirt and debris flew every which way as the ship touched down in the small area in front of Merlin's house. With quick efficiency, Roxas and Goofy ascended the plank from the ship with Donald struggling to lift Sora's legs up the some what steep angel.

After a few minutes, the Gummi ship's enginge roared as it lifted off to their new destination, leaving Merlin with a destroyed house and a lot of questions unanswered.

* * *

Yay! New chapter! I'll have the next one posted as soon as I can. Thanks for all the reviews, and keep them coming, it's nice to now that I'm doing something right. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters...and that makes me sad...but the idea for this is mine, and mine alone.

Alright, this is the next installment to the story. It's short, but it's something. I just had to break up the story this way to make more sense later on. But fear not, their will be another up date. Keep the reviews coming! Thanks!

* * *

**Unforeseen**

With a heavy sigh, Roxas collapsed next to the cot that held Sora. The stars and worlds slowly floated bye, but he ignored the sight. He had seen it all, although those memories were not his own.

He stared blankly ahead of him, ignoring the shaking the ship was emitting as it pulled itself out of Radiant Garden's gravitational pull.

Glancing back from the pilot's seat, Goofy handed control of the ship to Donald. Trudging over, Goofy sat by Roxas with a thud. Sleepily, Roxas gazed up at the knight with a tired expression; ready to answer the questions he knew were to come.

"What do we do now?" Startled, Roxas simply stared at Goofy's who just stared back.

After a moment of not responding, he shrugged, shifting to sit cross-legged. "We need to get Sora to safety. That's all that matters right now. We can figure the rest out later." Goofy was silent for a moment before giving his famous chuckle.

Roxas felt the wind rush out of his lungs as Goofy slapped his back in a friendly manner.

"Well I know we'll make it through this." Smiling slightly, Roxas nodded, trying to regain a regular breathing pace.

"Ya." Roxas replied, although a bit hesitant.

Goofy stood slowly, offering his gloved hand to Roxas.

"You should get some rest. We'll be at the king's castle in no time." Goofy told the nobody as he helped the boy to his feet. Nodding, he slowly made his way to the back to get some much-needed rest. After all, it wasn't easy to unmerge from his other.

As soon as he entered the small yet cozy bed quarters, he collapsed on the stiff cot. The wood paneling underneath the bed groaned at his weight, the rough fabric of the sheets rubbed against his arms.

Allowing his eyes to drift shut, Roxas shifted to lie on his side facing the metal paneling of the Gummi ship. Taking in a deep breath, he willed his restless thoughts to rest as he slipped into a fitful slumber.

* * *

"_Sora! Wake up!" _

Sora? He tossed, brows creasing at the memory.

Why was he having these again?

"_Wake up Sora!" Goofy shouted also, somewhat distorted. _

'_Sora?' He asked himself again, eyes twitching behind his closed eyelids. _

_Slowly, he allowed his eyes to open, focusing on the pitch black he was enclosed in. Immediately, he began to panic. He opened his mouth to scream, but water rushed in instead, filling the new void quickly. Bubbles flew out from all directions as he began to struggle, his arms and legs kicking in the black depth. Suddenly, the water rushed out from an unseen exit, taking him along for the ride._

_Everything became calm, leaving him floating aimlessly downward. Opening his eyes, he cold make out the bottom of what seemed to be an ocean, the sand billowing up as he corrected himself to land on it._

_Confused, he glanced around, seeing nothing but the empty blue that surrounded him. Cautiously, he took an experimental step, sending the sand stirring. He backed away quickly, as the sand took on a dark appearance. The sand slowly transformed into a black cloud, circling him instantly. He swung at the mass, but it simply overtook him._

"_Keep moving! If you don't, the darkness will over take you!" If he had a heart, it would have stopped at that moment. _

* * *

Startled, Roxas sat up in the small bed. The bedding was pilled up around his waist, showing how much he had tossed and turned during his short rest.

Raising a hand, Roxas whipped the sweat that had formed during the borage of memories that were not his own. Focusing his eyes, he noticed Donald standing at the side of the bed, a frown on his face…or beak…which ever came first. The duck placed his hands on his hips, his frown increasing in depth. Roxas grinned sheepishly at the wizard, who scoffed back in return.

Somewhat puzzled, Roxas shifted uneasily in the cot. Donald didn't seem to like him much. Casting his eyes to the bedding, he allowed the duck to glare at him a bit longer before he finally spoke.

"We're here." Donald stated simply, marching off to join Goofy outside.

Here?

Shacking his head, Roxas sat at the edge of the bed, stretching before reaching down to put back on his shoes and readjusting his clothes to join the chaos that was about to begin outside.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters...and that makes me sad...but the idea for this is mine, and mine alone.

And here it is! Another update! In the same day…not much of a gap but I just wanted to get it out there. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Unforeseen**

The castle was in an uproar as the massive ship docked in the courtyard, despite the docking bay being completely empty.

"Your majesty! Your majesty!" The whole castle seemed to be crying out to him.

Rushing to the courtyard, King Mickey skidded to a halt at the sight of the ship within the castle walls. He had no time to speak when Donald and Goofy came flying out of the ship, not waiting for the plank to hit the ground.

"What are you two…?" The king's sentence was cut off as the two rushed towards him only to yank him by his wrists back to the ship. "What happened? What's the matter?" Mickey asked.

"It's Sora!! He lost his heart!" Donald cried out to him.

"Oh no!!" With that said, the king rushed past the two and into the ship. "Hurry! Get him into the castle!" The king ordered as he skidded to a stop by the cot. The two saluted on habit. "Yes your majesty!!" They both shouted in unison before quickly attending to Sora.

Once Sora was out of sight, the king turned to the figure that stood behind him.

"Welp, we need all the help we can get…." The king began, turning to face the nobody who seemed apprehensive. "We can sure use your help."

Roxas stayed quiet for a moment, searching the king's face for any sign that spoke otherwise. After a long pause, Roxas managed a smile. "I'll do what I can." He offered, bringing a smile to the king's face.

"That's good to hear. Now, let's get to the castle where we can talk." Roxas followed the King as he led the way into his kingdom.

Glancing around once they stepped outside the ship, he could see the crowd that had formed.

Servants and royalty alike gawked at the visitors and ship that was out of place in the green landscape.

Turning his attention to the king before him, he noticed that, unlike before, he was completely dressed in what one would expect royalty to be seen in.

The velvet cape fluttered in the wind as the Mickey hurriedly rushed after Donald and Goofy.

It didn't take long to enter the castle and into the King's library room.

Taking in the sight, Roxas noticed several broom like creatures scurrying about, their pales and cloths forgotten as they rushed to prepare an emergency bed.

Where did they sleep? Roxas wondered as piece by piece, the bed was assembled in the far corner of the room, opposite of the fire place.

Once the bedding and sheets were in place, Sora was gently placed in the middle.

"From the beginning, I want to know what happened." Mickey ordered, all seriousness in his voice.

Gulping, Donald and Goofy looked at one another before turning their pleading gazes towards him. Taken aback, Roxas opened his mouth to protest but Donald began confessing.

"We're sorry your majesty!" He cried out, launching himself at the king who nearly toppled over. "Ya! We're sorry!" Goofy cried out also, rushing to join in the hug, effectively toppling over the three.

Gasping for breath, Mickey pried himself from their grasps and stood.

"It was Sora's idea! He wanted to go face Sephiroth, he wouldn't take no for an answer!" Donald sobbed, clutching to Goofy as they shock from their sobs.

"So Sephiroth took Sora's heart?" Mickey asked, alarmed at the story.

"No. It wasn't him." Roxas spoke, staring at the fire the brooms had been cautiously attending to.

Breaking his gaze from the fire, he met the king's gaze.

"Sora was injured by Sephiroth. Both Donald and Goofy took him to Merlin's where he helped stop the bleeding."

Frowning, Mickey paced about the room for a bit, before settling in his desk chair.

"Then what happened?"

Sighing, Roxas glanced at the sobbing pile that Goofy and Donald formed.

"I think the heartless sensed he was weakened. It really doesn't take much to excite them."

"We tried your majesty!" Goofy sobbed out, tears streaming down his face and down onto Donald.

"So…one of those heartless took Sora's heart?" Mickey asked, trying to piece the puzzle together.

"No…not exactly. Maleficent was the one who tried to take it." Mickey let out a startled gasp before glancing at the still form of Sora.

"But…shouldn't the worlds be over taken by heartless? It doesn't make sense!" Mickey cried out, placing a gloved hand under his chin.

"She didn't take it."

"She didn't?!?!?!" Mickey jumped up with relief. "Then why…"

"I interrupted her. She let go and the heart disappeared."

There was a long strained silence, only interrupted by the occasional sobs from Donald and Goofy.

"I get it now." King Mickey muttered. "The clothes the fairies had given Sora are magical, are they not?" A nod. "Welp, that is what kept Sora's body from disappearing, they have special powers, and perhaps those powers kept his body in physical form."

"What about Kairi?" Roxas asked. The king glanced at him curiously. "What about her?"

Gulping, and slightly blushing. "Well, Sora gave his heart for her, right?" Mickey nodded, brows furred in confusion. "Won't they be after her next? She may have a part of him in her…" Roxas trailed off.

Mickey jumped in his padded chair. "You're right!!" He exclaimed. "Donald! Goofy! Pull yourself together! Go get Kairi! She may be in danger!"

The pair quickly sobered up, their eyes shimmering from the amount of tears shed. They saluted the mouse. "Yes your majesty!!" They shouted. The king pulled them into a comforting hug, leaning into their ears to whisper reassuring words.

Releasing his hold on them, Mickey smiled at the three. "Bring Kairi back here. Do you understand?" The three nodded as they were rushed off to their Gummi ship in the courtyard.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters...and that makes me sad...but the idea for this is mine, and mine alone.

Alright, here is another wonderful chapter for you guys to view. Thanks for the continuing reviews. You guys are the best!

**

* * *

**

**Unforeseen**

Kairi looked up from her sketchpad upon hearing the roar of a ship. A smile came to her lips as she closed her pad, sticking her pencil into the metal spine it adorned. She never really drew until she picked up the habit from Namine.

Dusting her skirt off, Kairi stood and walked over to the ship as it landed, sending sand and water into the air. The engines shut off abruptly, as Donald and Goofy ran down the plank the ship laid out. "Donald! Goofy!" She shouted in greeting, the two rushing to her with an unreadable expression on either of their faces.

"What's the matter?" She asked once they reached her, both panting. "You have to come with us." Both stated in unison.

Raising a brow, Kairi looked at the two, searching for answers. Neither met her gaze, both had their hands on their knees, struggling to catch their breath.

"Why? What happened?" Shaking his head, Goofy reached out to grab her by her hand, leading her to their ship while Donald shoved her from behind.

"Where's Sora?" She asked, resisting the pushing and pulling as best she could, loosing grip of her sketchpad in the process. She gazed at it as she slowly gained distance from her before she looked at the two trying to coral her in a certain direction.

"It's not safe here." Donald said from behind her, his webbed feet digging into the sand.

Peering over her shoulder, she glanced down at the wizard.

"What do you mean?"

"We'll explain later." Goofy promised, increasing his pace.

Kairi frowned. "We'll, we gotta go get Riku. He's over by the…"

Her sentence was interrupted by the appearance of a black cloud that surrounded the three. From the smoke appeared several heartless and nobodies. Instantly, both Donald and Goofy surrounded Kairi as best they could.

"Kairi! Run!!" Donald exclaimed as he dodged a swipe of a sword from a nobody. Kairi clutched her hands to her, searching for an opening in the fray.

"Thundaga!" Donald shouted, releasing his most used spell on the enemies around him. Following suite, Goofy tossed his shield at the foes, sending them sailing into the air.

A small opening was created in the throng of enemies. Taking a deep breath, she ran through the small path, ignoring the scrapes and claws that reached out for her. Kairi gasped as a cold, clammy hand abruptly stopped her, its claws digging at her right wrist.

Glancing back, she saw a Shadow heartless gripping her tightly, its yellow eyes staring up at her. Struggling against it, Kairi swung her left palm as hard as she could at the form.

"Let go!" She cried as the blow made contact.

The blow sent the Shadow stumbling back, its cheek showing a tinge of red where her hand had made contact.

Kairi gritted her teeth as the Shadows claws dragged across her flesh, drawing blood as it flew back. Grasping her bleeding wrist, she glanced around at the heartless and nobodies that now surrounded her.

"Now it's time I stepped in." A voice spoke behind her. Whirling around, Kairi saw Pete standing in front of a familiar black portal, grinning at his near victory.

Grasping her by her forearm, he dragged her in the direction of the portal. Desperately she clawed at his gloved hand while pulling away from him, all the while locking her knees as he dragged her along. The horde of heartless and nobodies parted as he made his way through the mass.

"Let me go!!" She demanded, punching at his arm and kicking at his stubby legs. Growling, he glanced over his shoulder at her. She frowned at him and continued assailing him with punches.

"You can do that all you want little missy, that doesn't hurt." He mocked at her, laughing at her antics. His chuckle was disrupted as he yelled in pain from a well-placed blow.

He immediately released her and spun around to face her fully. "Why you…" Kairi gasped as he raised his fist, readying a blow. She clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the blow to land.

She cringed as she felt the blow draw nearer, but instead of the hit, she heard a sharp exhale as well as a huge thud. Cautiously, she opened her eyes to see Pete sprawled on the beach, the wind knocked out of him by the figure that stood protectively in front of her.

"Riku!!" She exclaimed happily, latching onto him in a hug of pure relief.

Riku glanced down at her, smiling slightly as he poised his keyblade in a fighting stance. She released him from her hug, stepping back to examine the heartless and nobodies encircling them.

"Now get to the ship." He ordered before rushing at Pete who was slowly standing back up.

Watching Riku a bit longer, Kairi turned and ran for the ship. She dodged all the claws and grasps she could as she pushed her way to the ships lowered plank. She sighed in relief as she ran up the plank and into the Gummi ship.

As soon as she made it into the safety of the ship, she heard another pair of hurried footsteps up the plank. Panicked, she glanced back down the plank to see Donald and Goofy running up behind her.

"Hurry Goofy!!" Donald shouted, skidding to a halt mid way up the plank. "Thundaga!!" He shouted as he electrocuted all the enemies trying to make their way up to the ship.

Goofy rushed by Kairi as he hurriedly sat at the control panels. The ship shuttered to life as the engines fired up.

"Hurry Riku!" Donald shouted as the plank lifted up off the ground slightly.

Riku turned to look at the ship before turning back to the Pete. "Just get the ship ready."

The ship shuddered once again as it lifted several few feet off the beach, gaining distance from the heartless that continued to swarm underneath the ships gigantic shadow.

Donald frowned as Riku continued to buy the ship more time. "We're ready!" Goofy shouted. Donald spun around and rushed to access the damage, if any, the ship had taken from the inside.

Riku raised his arm to shield his eyes as the sand stirred from the engines. The heartless and nobodies stopped their attack to swat at the sand, trying their best to get the small particles away from them.

Pete gave out an evil laugh as he plowed through the curtain of sand at Riku, knocking him off his feet and into the sand. His keyblade fell a few feet away, its tip buried in the sand.

The heartless and nobodies automatically reacted, their arms snaking out to keep the fallen keyblade wielder down.

Riku grunted as Pete's large foot connected with his ribs.

"Riku!!" Kairi shouted as she kneeled at the edge of the plank.

Pete looked up at her and smiled his sweetest smile before bringing his fist down at Riku's unprotected back.

"No!' Kairi shifted on the plank, preparing to jump when a figure shot off the plank before she could.

Her eyes widened as she felt her heart skip a beat.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters...and that makes me sad...but the idea for this is mine, and mine alone.

I know it's been a while since I've updated. I've kinda lost track already. I've hit a big snag with the story, but not to worry! I have completed several chappies that will be posted up! The snag is way later on in the story. I'm hoping to make the chapters a bit longer, so I hope you can put up with a few more short ones along the way. But enjoy!! Please review! I love to hear all those comments!

* * *

**Unforeseen**

Pete lifted up his heavy foot, placing it firmly on Riku's back, pushing the silver haired boy viciously into the sand.

The shadow heartless dug underneath him, creating a dark portal to engulf him in darkness once again.

Riku shot out his left hand, striking the shadows that dug at his clothing and clawed at his skin.

"Maleficent will look forward to seein' ya again." Pete told Riku, pushing harder down on the boy to urge him faster into the darkness; he really didn't have all day.

Suddenly, Pete gave out a mighty cry, his hands flying up to cradle his throbbing head from the impact he just received from above. His footing on Riku slipped, allowing Riku to roll out from under the massive weight of the henchmen and out of the grasp of the heartless.

Gasping for breath, all the while fighting the heartless off, Riku swung his clenched fists, connecting with those who wished to drag him down.

Risking a glance up at Pete, Riku stopped his actions of hitting at the enemy to gaze at the figure now confronting Pete.

"Roxas?"

The nobody ignored Riku, something he was quiet good at while bringing Oathkeeper around to smack hard against Pete's back.

"That's for hurting my back." He muttered to the heartless leader, flashing both keyblade's threateningly in front of him.

Pete stumbled back, one hand clutching his back, the other gingerly feeling the two lumps that formed on his head from the two keyblades.

Roxas whirled Oblivion in his right hand, Oathkeeper kept tightly to his side. He rushed forward at Pete, who immediately took a step back as the nobody charged at him. Bringing Oathkeeper down to his join Oblivion in his right, Roxas swung upwards with the keyblade, hitting Pete directly in his jaw.

Pete stumbled back further, his hands clamping at his jaw when Oblivion was swung upwards too, catching his hands as well as his jaw.

Pete fell back, rolling slightly due to his bulge. The heartless that were unfortunate enough to lay underneath him quivered before disappearing in a black puff of smoke. Pete struggled to get to his belly, rolling partially only to come face to face with Riku foot.

Gasping, Pete swung out his arms to try to get to the ground that was a few inches from his fingers, desperately trying to move away from the pair.

Riku smirked as he kicked the flunky, causing Pete to whirl around in a fast, uncontrollable spin in a semi circle.

Pete gave out several loud cries, his arms and legs flailing out to stop the spin.

Once the momentum wore off, Pete lay limply on the ground, slightly dazed. The heartless and nobodies around Pete swarmed around him, pushing the fallen leader to a small portal they managed to summon up.

As Pete took his leave, the nobodies and heartless left slowly disappeared, their orders unsure.

Riku watched as the last of the heartless disappeared before looking over at Roxas.

Roxas felt Riku's gaze on him and automatically dismissed his keyblades. He was in no mood to fight him again… for a third time.

Riku stared at Roxas a bit longer before moving to pick up his fallen weapon a few feet away.

Sighing, Roxas turned to look at the ship that hovered over the ground. Almost immediately, his eyes locked with Kairi's. The two stared at each other before Roxas formed a small smile upon seeing the smiling form of Namine staring back down at him.

The ship moved a good distance away before settling on the beach once again, kicking up more sand and water.

"Riku!" Kairi called out, rushing to hug him. Riku kept a stoic face, embracing Kairi as she ran into him.

Her sobs were uncontrollable as she buried her face into Riku's shoulder.

Roxas backed away from the scene, unsure of what to do. It wasn't often he would encounter such an emotional outburst.

"Hurry up!!" Donald quacked angrily, stomping at the metal of the plank underneath him before rushing back in to join Goofy.

Riku held Kairi out at arms length, lifting her chin with his hand to force her to meet his eyes.

"It'll all be okay." He whispered to her, bending down slightly to place a reassuring kiss on her forehead. The tears did not stop, but the sobs did.

Reassured by the outward improvement, Riku led Kairi to the ship. Roxas followed a good distance behind, finding the emotional outburst too much to deal with.

"Is everybody ready?" Goofy asked, looking over his shoulder to those around him as he held the steering column.

"Of course we are!" Donald shouted at him. "Let's go!"

Goofy chuckled before ascending while Donald took his place in the co-pilot's seat.

Roxas glanced at Kairi and Riku one last time before heading to the back of the ship, seeking solace.

"Hey, wait!" Riku shouted after him, but Roxas ignored him.

"Let him go." Kairi whispered to Riku before sliding to rest on the metal floor. Frowning, Riku his attention to Kairi. Kneeling in front of her, he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small scrap of clothing.

"They sure did a number on you." Scoffing, Kairi allowed Riku to bandage her bleeding wrist with the cloth.

The two stayed in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. "There we go." Pulled from her thoughts, Kairi glanced at her wrapped wrist.

"Thanks." Reaching forward, she held Riku in a hug. "It'll all be okay." Riku reassured her once again, patting her back softly. Nodding, Kairi pulled away to glance at the direction where Roxas disappeared to.

Gingerly, she stood up, dusting off her skirt. "I'll be in the cock pit." He told her while standing up also, placing a hand on her shoulder before walking off.

Taking a deep breath, Kairi moved to the rear of the ship.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters...and that makes me sad...but the idea for this is mine, and mine alone.

We'll, here is another chapter. I hope the story doesn't go down hill from here, but I'll try to keep it afloat. :D

* * *

**Unforeseen**

Roxas stared out the small, circular window that was placed just above the cot he slept in earlier.

The clanking of shoes drew closer, but Roxas held his gaze to the stars and worlds just beyond.

"Roxas?" Cringing slightly, he refused to acknowledge her presence. The cot creaked as Kairi sat next to him, staring at him. Uncomfortable, Roxas shifted to rest closer to the metal wall that separated them from the endless suction of space.

"Roxas?" Kairi tried again, reaching out to tap the nobody.

Roxas shuddered at the touch. "Please, don't. Just leave me alone." He whispered, turning his head to meet Kairi's gaze.

Kairi smiled kindly at him. "I know you don't mean that."

Sighing, he moved to sit next to Kairi on the edge of the bed, his shoes clanking as they hit the floor.

"Are you okay?" She asked him, searching his face for any form of emotion.

Startled, Roxas just stared at her. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He questioned, an eyebrow raised.

She smiled at him. "I'm fine. It's just that you look like you have something on your mind."

Roxas felt a bitter smile tug at his lips. "Not really. It's just…" He sighed, eyes boring into Kairi's. "I'm worried about what will happen now."

Kairi's face fell slightly. Roxas let his gaze drop to the floor, finding his shoes to be of sudden interest.

A soft touch came to his face. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to take comfort the small jester brought to him.

"It'll all be alright. You _kno_w _tha_t Roxas." The voice teased. Opening his eyes, he turned to look at the figure of Namine.

She smiled gently at him, her eyes shimmering with hope. Her blond hair swayed slightly as she cocked her head, smiling at the blush that crept on to his cheeks. Her white dress crinkled slightly as she gently pulled her hand away, the image of Namine fading into Kairi.

"Thank you." Roxas whispered to her.

Kairi shock her head, her red hair swaying at her actions.

"Don't thank me. I told you two that me and Sora would always be together, every day." She paused, placing a hand over her beating heart. "We are still together, no matter what happens."

The ship gave a sudden jerk to the left, then the right, tossing everything that was not strapped down.

"What's happening?" Kairi asked, crawling over the cot to look out the window.

"No clue." Roxas confessed, catching a box that flew in his direction.

"Are there suppose to be that many ships around?" Kairi asked, pointing to the big formation of heartless ships.

Roxas cursed under his breath as he shot up off the cot and toward the cockpit.

"Goofy!! You're supposed to shoot them!" Donald cried out, launching himself off of his seat, trying to get a hold of the steering column.

"Hey!" Goofy cried out as Donald pulled at his ears. "That hurts!"

Riku clung to the co-pilots seat, forcing himself to take a seat against the endless rocking the ship was under.

"Move!!!" Roxas ordered, pushing the two bickering friends off the pilot's seat. The two gave a startle yep as they fell in a pile on the floor.

Taking control, Roxas yanked up on the steering column, sending the ship upwards and out the barrage of missiles that were being fired.

Donald and Goofy cried out as they slid from the front of the ship all the way to the back where Kairi sat, clutching the metal railing along the bed.

"Let's get out of here." Riku suggested, pulling the safety belt across his shoulder as the ship shuddered once again from the missile blast.

"I'm on it."

Through the cockpit window, all that was visible was the endless sight of Heartless ships and the ever-present glow of laser's firing and the whirl of missiles.

"Are we close to the castle?" Roxas asked, pulling the column to the right just as two missiles zoomed by.

Riku searched the control panel in front of them, and nodded. "Very close. Just don't slow down."

The ship gave a lurch as a missile struck the left side of the ship, sending Donald and Goofy sailing across the ship once again.

"Uh-hyuck."

"Why that no good nobody…." Donald growled out as he tried to pry himself out from under Goofy.

The ship groaned suddenly as lasers landed directly on one of the ships engines.

"C'mon! We're almost there!" Roxas yelled at the ship, the controls blinking madly at the loss of power. The world was fully in view, the castle standing out proudly against the black of the night sky.

The heartless ships eased off as they spotted the castle. Sighing, Roxas allowed himself to concentrate on trying to land with a heavily slopping ship.

"How are we going to do this?" He asked himself, the ship vibrating as the remaining engine struggled to keep power to the ship.

All those onboard the ship braced themselves as they readied for the landing.

* * *

"Welp, at least it's not in the courtyard again." Mickey piped up, examining the ship before him. Chip and Dale scrambled around the ship as it hung precariously on its wing on the landing platform. The ship swayed slowly back and forth as the small attendees tried their best to get the machinery into place to secure the remains of the ship. 

The ship was badly scorched and dinged out of shape to the point where its tail end was nearly at a twenty-degree angel. Smoke poured out of the various gashes along the ships dented frame, an occasional fire billowing out.

"Good job Roxas." King Mickey patted him on the back before grasping Kairi by the hand and leading her into the castle.

"Ya, you were great!" Goofy said, gathering the nobody into a hug before walking after the King and Kairi.

Riku just smirked at him. "I did all the work though." Rolling his eyes, Roxas followed Riku into the castle when a tug to his vest stopped him.

Turning slightly, he looked down at Donald who seemed more flustered than usual. The wizard sighed, "You did okay." And that was it. Well, it was like this with Sora and Donald before………maybe things would get better. Maybe they were finally accepting him...not just a nobody...

"Hopefully…." Roxas whispered to himself while following the others into the castle, leaving Chip and Dale barking orders to one another.

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters...and that makes me sad...but the idea for this is mine, and mine alone.

Sorry for such a long wait. I tried a couple of days ago to post up a new chapter, but I just wasn't allowed to do it. (Shrugs) Why? I do not know. But oh well...But fear not! Here is a new chapter for you. Thanks to all the reviewers. You've all been great! I just had to make sure this up coming part was at its best.

* * *

**Unforeseen**

His shoes clanked loudly despite the marble flooring being covered by a thick, red carpet. Sheepishly, he offered an apologetic grin to those he walked past. Each noble man and woman giving him less than understanding looks; their noses turned up toward the sky in a superior fashion. The fabric of his pants brushed against one another, drawing more looks as he continued to make a racket down the expansive hall.

'_He said to meet him in the library…' _He mentally recalled as he glanced from side to side, burying his hands in each of his pockets as he searched for the door to the library. Both Donald and Goofy disappeared as soon as they landed, each heading off to a different direction, leaving him lost and guideless. He had no clue for how long he was wandering about, but he recalled certain sites and guessed on the rest.

"This must be it." He said to himself, looking up at the massive white double-doors before him. Glancing around, he looked at the other doorways aligning the hallway. Turning back to face the familiar door, he exhaled, extending his right hand to rest on the cold wood before him. He could hear the faint talking within the room, and hesitated. Still, he held his palm flat against the door; still undeceive as to open the door when the door cracked open for him.

"C'mon in Roxas. Make yourself at home." That must have been the Queen. Roxas moved to his left, allowing the Queen to exit the room, her dress ruffling as she walked by. Another form followed the Queen out, looking much like Donald did, except a lot more feminine. He stared at the retreating forms a bit longer before turning to stare at the now opened door. Taking a deep breath, he entered.

When he entered the library room that contained Sora, he immediately became aware of the fact that it was dead silent now. Glancing at the bed, he noticed Kairi sitting by Sora's side, an unreadable expression on her face as she held his limp hand in her own.

"Come in Roxas. We need to talk." Straight to the point as usual. Closing the white double doors behind him, Roxas moved to stand fully in the room.

Donald, Goofy, and Riku stood by the fireplace, just opposite of the King's desk where he currently sat.

"We know so far that Sora has lost his heart, right?" Simultaneous nods.

"So what are we going to do? We can't just sit here." Riku spoke up, folding his arms over his chest, leaning back against the cool stone paneling of the fireplace.

The king stayed quiet, his eyes staring at the Ansem report in front of him.

"But how do we get the heart back your Majesty?" Goofy asked, his gaze on the pale body that lay on the bed.

Mickey stayed silent for a moment before standing up. "I don't know." He confessed.

"But make yourselves at home, I'll stay up all night if I have too to try and come up with an answer."

"Please escort our guests to their rooms." The brooms aligning the walls the room jumped into action, grabbing there given charge and leading them to separate rooms.

"But your majesty! We have our own quarters!" Donald squawked out as the broom's literally swept both him and Goofy to guest chambers.

"Oh, your right." Mickey dismissed the two broom leading Goofy and Donald away with a simple clapping motion.

"Thank you, your Majesty." The two saluted before making their way to their rooms.

Smiling, Mickey watched as the two walked away. Exhaling, he closed his eyes, resting them before opening them to gaze at Kairi who sat motionless on the bed beside Sora.

"Kairi?" Kairi's head shot up, she turned her head to glance at the King who stood at the side of the bed.

"Yes?" The King smiled at her, placing a gloved hand on her slim shoulder.

"We're about to move Sora elsewhere. Would you like to stay with him or would you like your own room?" He already new the answer to that, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"I would like to stay with him." She answered, moving to stand up as the brooms around her moved to pick up Sora.

"Follow them. They'll lead you to your room." She smiled thankfully at the King, leaning down to give him a hug before running off to catch up with the brooms.

* * *

The bed shifted slightly as she crawled upon it, its silky sheets crinkling at each move. Slowly, she sat next to the figure, legs tucked up beside her with her feet dangling off the edge of the mattress.

"Hey there, you lazy bum." Kairi whispered, leaning slightly forward to stroke Sora's brown spikes of hair that lay haphazardly on his forehead.

The brooms had since left, their task already completed and more to do around the castle.

She could feel the tears start to well up once again as she looked down from the hair she stroked to his exposed chest, the bandaging newly wrapped by Queen Minnie and Daisy.

"He'll be fine." They assured Kairi before leaving her with Sora.

She didn't want to say it, but she couldn't help but feel like telling him she told him so. She was, after all, always right.

Gently, she laid a kiss on his forehead before running a hand through his soft hair. She traced the outline of his face, biting her bottom lip at the lack of warmth he failed to produce.

She leaned over to grab a blanket that rested at the foot of the bed and pulled it over his still form.

A tear managed to free itself from her watery eyes, leaving a streak as it raced down her cheek before falling off and hitting Sora on the face.

She frowned, whipping off the stray tear from his face. She slowly stroked his pale cheek, trying to focus on anything else but the extensive emotional pain she was feeling.

Shakily, she inhaled. He told her not to cry. He said he hated to see her cry…especially when he was the one who caused it.

Leaning slightly back, Kairi undid her shoelaces before moving to lie on the bed beside him. She moved under the covers to curl up by his side, resting her head on his shoulder, an arm draped over his chest. Tentatively, she maneuvered her hand just under where the major damage was dealt to him, taking care as not to undo the careful wrappings. She snuggled closer to his side, wishing he would respond.

Shutting her eyes, she willed herself not to cry.

* * *

Okay, okay. I am desperatly trying, and trying very hard to make these chapters longer, but I just can't seem to do it. I guess its the way I'm breaking them up. But maybe a few chapters from now, they will begin to get longer and more detailed. Just be patient with me. . Thanks.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters...and that makes me sad...but the idea for this is mine, and mine alone.

Alrighty. Here is another spankin' new chapter. It'll pick up from here on out…I hope. Fingers crossed But keep the reviews coming in. They are a big confidence booster for me.

* * *

**Unforeseen**

Roxas never saw a room more lavishly decorated than the one he was appointed too. The windows that looked out over the courtyard stretched to the ceiling, almost as big as the door leading to the throne room. The curtains that draped along side each window was probably enough to clothe a whole world and then some.

A tap broke him form his staring. "Oh thank you." The broom bowed politely before sauntering off to finish its other duties.

Walking into the room, he shut the heavy wooden door behind him to take in all that was happening. Sluggishly, he made his way to the massive king size bed that sat against the wall before launching himself on its soft surface. Instantly, he sank into the fine material of the mattress, almost engulfing him in its softness. Contently, he snuggled into the best bed he ever laid on, enjoying the cool feeling of the material.

Just opposite of the bed, a fire burned brightly from the fireplace, illuminating the room in a soft orange glow as the sun began to set.

Lazily, Roxas moved to lie on his stomach, his right foot moving to kick off his left shoe. The shoe hit the floor with a dull thud as it hit the carpeting. Repeating his action, he kicked off his right shoe before turning to lie on his back once again, his feet dangling off the edge of the bed.

Folding his hands to rest behind his neck, he stared up at the satin canopy that draped over the four-post bed. This was by far the best bed he ever had the privilege to lay on.

The quiet of the room was eerie; the only sound was that of the crackling of the firewood as it burned. Hefting himself to sit up, Roxas moved to stand up, heading to the massive doors leading out to a balcony. With a bit of effort, he managed to crack a door open enough for him to squeeze through.

He shivered suddenly, rubbing his arms for warmth as his bare feet hit the cool concrete. Looking around, he made his way to lean against the marble railing surrounding the beautifully crafted balcony. Taking a deep breath, he allowed the clean air to fill his lungs before exhaling.

Slowly, as not to fall off the marbles smooth surface, he sat with his back leaning against the castles wall while straddling the railing. Carefully, he propped up his right leg to rest on top of the railing with his left leg swinging over.

The breeze swept through his hair, ruffling it as it passed by. Resting his hands on his lap, he gazed out over the garden in the center of the castle. He could see Donald with Daisy, more than likely; the two were having a disagreement. Just on the other side of the shrub containing the entrance to the Gummi ship dock laid Goofy sound asleep with his shield nestled at his side.

The scene made him smile despite barely knowing the two. He _did_ know them…but they didn't know _him. _

'_Not that it would matter… I won't be here much longer.'_

Shaking his head, he refused to get into his dark mindset that he was famous for while in the Organization.

Leaning back fully, he rested, allowing himself to relax for the first time during the day.

* * *

Queen Minnie quietly entered the library room. The door creaked softly, but did not disturb the quiet. Her dress swished as she gingerly made her way to the desk, a tray of tea and snacks decorating its surface. King Mickey had his nose in a mountain of notes, the rustling of paper breaking the silence every once and a while.

Shaking her head, she smiled to herself as she settled the tray down on the hard wood, the teacups clanking together as they settled. Glancing up from the settled tray, Minnie stood before the desk, hands placed in front of her.

"Any luck?" She questioned, smoothing her dress before reaching up to the teacups.

King Mickey shook his head, his eyes full of determination as he searched through the paper in front of him. "No, not yet. I just don't know what to do." He sighed, exasperated with the lack of helpful information that his entire kingdom failed to produce.

"Well, what do you have so far?" She asked, eyes focused on the tea she was currently pouring in the two cups. The steam produced from the hot liquid rose into the air, filling it with a crisp herbal smell. Taking in a deep breath, the King allowed the smell of the tea to sooth his fraying nerves.

"Not a thing." He confessed, exhaling loudly. Queen Minnie settled down the pot of tea before holding one of the cups to him. "Thanks." He whispered to her, leaning over his massive seat to give her a small peck on the cheek. She smiled at him before grasping her own cup, bringing it to her lips to take a long sip.

"Well, what do you want to know?" Sipping his tea, Mickey shrugged, his eyes focused on the swirling liquid in the cup he held.

"I don't even know where to begin." Minnie frowned slightly as she reached to grab a small grape on the tray before offering some help. "Well, don't you need to find a heart?"

Mickey nodded, plopping grapes into his mouth. Biting his bottom lip, the King folded his right hand, resting his head on his gloved knuckles while staring at the fire the illuminated the area. "Well," Minnie continued, "Where would you go to find a heart?" She questioned, placing her empty teacup down before reaching for a small muffin.

"Welp…all hearts go to the dark realm. Kingdom Hearts is there…." Mickey paused, sitting up in his chair, thinking more into the question that she asked.

"When a heart is lost….the person goes into darkness." Shaking his head, the King looked up at his Queen, eyes full of confusion. "A heartless is created, but in this case, it wasn't, and a nobody was released, which did happen."

Queen Minnie reached over to gather all the papers strewn all over his desk into a neat pile as he continued on.

"But the heart is gone. It would be the same if a heartless was destroyed, the heart would go to…" His eyes widened as he shot up in his seat. Quickly, he stood up and ran to the door before running back to his wife to lay a rushed kiss on her check.

"You're the greatest!" He shouted, hands resting on her hips as he twirled her around. She gave a startled yelp of surprise, but giggled at his show of happiness. Mickey placed her down suddenly, reaching over to give her a kiss on the lips before rushing out of the room and toward the rooms of the others.

* * *

_The clock chimed as the hour was reached. The four friends sat at the edge of the building that housed the massive clock, their feet dangling._

_Roxas looked over at Pence, Olette, and Hayner as they conversed with one another, a Sea Salt ice cream in each of their hands. The three laughed at a comment that was made, but Roxas heard none of it. Not one word that was spoken._

_"Pence?" He asked, reaching over to shake his friends shoulder. To his horror, his hand passed straight through the figure. _

_Pence shuddered, turning to stare straight at Roxas. _

"_What's the matter?" Olette asked, taking a small bite out of the ice cream. "Oh, nothing. I just felt something." Pence shrugged, turning back to the conversation._

"_Guys?" Roxas asked, his voice wavering as they continued talking to one another, seemingly ignoring his presence._

_Hayner smirked at the other two, pulling out his red orb to gaze at it in the setting suns light. The other two fished for their orbs before mimicking his actions._

_Roxas felt his pockets, patting them until finding the small lump on his right. Desperately he pulled out the blue orb to show that he did indeed have it. _

"_Guys! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to be so weird…" He pleaded for their attention, shifting to gaze at the blue orb through the same sunlight. _

"_Let's go." Hayner spoke up after a brief period of silence, standing up to lead the other two to their usual spot. _

"_No wait!" Roxas shouted at them, jumping to his feet. The action proved too fast as his left foot slipped off the side of the building. His hold on the small orb slipped, sending the tiny object down. Waving his arms around, he tried to regain his balance on the siding but gravity simply pulled him over in the direction the blue orb was taking._

_Panicking, he reached out for anything that would stop his fall, but nothing came into his grasp. Clenching his eyes shut he awaited the pain before the end was to come._

"_Hayner! Pence! Olette!" He cried out before darkness engulfed him entirely._

* * *

He gave out a startled cry, his eyes snapping open at the sudden feeling of weightlessness before a sudden grasp at his arm prevented him from slipping over completely.

"Whoa!" King Mickey cried out, pulling desperately at Roxas who swung from the balcony. Fully awake now, Roxas panicked and glanced down, immediately regretting it at the sight he saw. It wouldn't have been a big fall, nothing more than a few stories, but it wouldn't have been something he would have liked to wake up too. Placing either of his feet on the marble surface, the king pulled back, reeling in the nobody until Roxas could reach the ledge.

Still slightly panicked, Roxas clung to the ledge as it came into reach, his fingers digging firmly until he could hoist himself up to rest on the railing.

"I'm sorry I scared ya." The King offered an apologetic smile, not releasing the hold he had on his arm until he swung over the railing to rest fully on the balconies surface. With shaky legs, Roxas stood on the solid surface before nerves gave out, sending him to his knees before the king, breathing heavily from the experience.

"No, it wasn't you…it was a bad…" He stopped mid sentence; it wasn't a dream. They really didn't remember him. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the smooth surface he rested on. Sighing, Roxas looked up at the king, placing a stoic look on his face.

"Did you have something to ask?" Roxas questioned, shaking himself from his stunned state.

"Yes. Do you know where hearts go once they've been released from a heartless?" Roxas stared at the King with an unreadable expression. He raised a brow at the simplicity of the question. Leaning backward, Roxas shifted to sit, his legs splayed out in front of him. He bent his knees and rested his elbows upon them.

"Of course. They go to Kingdom Hearts. But shouldn't you already know that?" He asked, studying the King.

"I knew that, I just wanted to make sure. But Kingdom Heart's is in the Realm of Darkness, right?"

Roxas nodded.

Mickey jumped up from his excitement before rushing off to find the others.

It was until then, that Roxas barely noticed the moon fully out. Yawning while popping his back, he allowed himself to stand up on somewhat stable legs to go into the room he was assigned too.

He flopped down on warm bed before drifting off completely again, in hopes of no more nightmares.

* * *

I think that was a pretty long chapter. .; Well...It is on Microsoft. A whole 5 pages!! But anywho, I'll be updating soon, that is if the computer works with me on that...but the wait should not be long for an update. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters…and that makes me sad…

Yay!! I've gotten to twenty reviews!! I'm so proud! I never thought I would get that many…But here is the chapter that was promised, as well as another one. Thanks for all the support.

* * *

**Unforeseen**

It was well before four in the morning. The sun was well hidden, and the castle seemed dead except for the crazed King waking up the four he sought after. Roxas groaned at the brightness of the light in the library. He barely shut his eyes and no more than 15 seconds later; a mad mouse came in his room demanding to meet him in the library room.

If only their enemies could see them now. Riku had his hair tussled, his eyes half lidded from the sudden awakening, his shirt and pants were crinkled and the lines of the bed sheets he laid on were clearly visible along his exposed arms.

Donald had his white feathers smeared with pink lipstick, courtesy of Daisy herself of course. Mickey had a tough time explaining the sudden interruption to a mad Daisy, but managed to make it out of the room with Donald in tow, having only lost most of his hearing from the yelling he was receiving. And their Donald stood, his hat twisted in the wrong direction, and his vest half zipped off with no rush what so ever to pull himself back together.

Goofy stood there also, supported only by his shield as he snoozed on it, legs bent to accommodate the shields lack of height. A sudden shout by the king brought him to his senses, sending the Knight straight up with a drowsy expression on his face, eyes half lidded.

"Morning already?" He asked, smiling lazily and somewhat sleepily at the King.

King Mickey smiled at his faithful companion, and nodded. "For you guys it is." Earning a disgruntled groan from Roxas.

The King strolled over to the front of his desk with the grace only a King would posses, all eyes focusing on him as he stopped just in front of the group.

"Now what is it that you want your majesty?" Riku asked, his voice raspy from the lack of moisture and slightly strained due to fatigue.

"I found out where Sora's heart is." The four awakened fully instantly, eyes opening to gaze at the King with wonder.

"Where?!?!" They all asked simultaneously.

"In the Realm of Darkness." Donald and Goofy looked at one another, puzzled.

"Why would it be there?" Donald asked, finally rubbing the lipstick stain off of his bill.

"That's where Kingdom Heart's is." Riku looked at the King warily, still skeptical.

"There is no other way?" Roxas asked, hating to venture into the all too familiar emptiness that world offered.

"Nope." The King turned to his desk, retrieving six scrolls. He handed four of them to Roxas.

"Roxas, Donald, Goofy, I need you to go to these worlds," He motioned to the scrolls, "and give these to the Princess' their. Is that understood?"

"Yes your Majesty!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed, saluting.

"We need to gather all the Princess' of Hearts to open that door."

King Mickey turned to look at Riku. "Me and you will go to these two worlds to ask for their help." Riku nodded as he examined the small scrolls he had just been handed.

"There is no time to waste. Kairi will be safe and sound here," His voice fell into a whisper as though someone unwanted might hear him, "But we need to hurry. The longer we take the less likely we are to see Sora' heart again." The group nodded as they stood before the pacing king.

"There is a new Gummi ship waiting in the docking bay, but please be careful you three." The three nodded, awaiting further instructions.

"You are to escort the princess' here yourselves due to the critical situation we are in. We can't afford anything thing to go wrong."

"Now get going." The king ordered, earning salutes from Donald and Goofy, but receiving a confused expression from Roxas.

"You mean you want me to go with them?" He asked incredulously, looking at the two who stood at his side.

"What is that suppose to mean?" Donald asked, his voice tinted with anger.

"No, it isn't that, I just….. I don't think…"

"You can do it." The king interrupted, "There isn't any more time to waste. We'll see you as soon as possible."

And with that, the King and Riku were off to ask for the Princess' help.

Donald turned to look at Roxas, the lipstick slightly more smeared now with his constant rubbing.

"Ready?" He asked.

Roxas hesitated, holding the four scrolls out to look at them. After a brief period of silence, he nodded. "Let's go." Goofy chuckled loudly but was silenced by Donald.

"Shh!"

The three slowly snuck out of the room before making a mad dash to the new ship to start their new journey.

* * *

"Where to first?" Goofy asked to the right of Roxas, who sat at the pilot's seat. That seat, however, was not easily obtained as he did, after all, had to go through Donald.

"Uh….well, there is one called the 'Beast's Castle.'" Donald and Goofy exchanged excited grins as they plotted the course to their new destination.

"Isn't that the world with the big beast?" Roxas asked, examining the title of the world more closely, spinning the scroll between his fingers.

"Uh-huh." Goofy replied, readying the ships weaponry while Donald communicated with Chip and Dale as they were moved into position on the docking bay.

"I think I remember some of that world…" Roxas muttered to himself, trying to make himself remember all that he could. He was, after all, with Sora all that time. He frowned. He couldn't remember much…shrugging to himself he put away the scroll, all the while staring off into the distance.

Resting fully in the chair, Roxas folded his arms to rest behind his neck, earning stares from both Goofy and Donald. Aware of the sudden stop in commotion, Roxas looked from Donald to Goofy. He raised a brow at the two, asking without saying a word. Donald looked away, continuing his task, leaving Goofy to answer the question.

Goofy looked at Donald, then to Roxas. The knight's face softened as he spoke. "You look a lot like Sora when you do that." Immediately, Roxas sat up, pulling his arms from behind his head to rest in front of him.

"I'm sorry." He apologized. Shaking his head, Goofy smiled at him, chuckling also.

"Don't be! This ship runs on happy faces." Donald rolled his eyes at that old comment.

The ship shuddered as the machinery moved it into the tunnel they were about to take off in.

"Be careful you guys!" Chip and Dale shouted to them through the intercom system, their high-pitched voices ringing through the ship.

"And bring back the ship in one piece!" Dale added, earning a knock on the head form Chip.

The ship was thrusted forward through the tunnel to come out into open space.

* * *

Okay...that was kinda short. But not to worry. There is a next chapter. Hopefully that is slightly longer. Sorry. But I am trying to make these chapters as long as possible. 

Please review though!! Thanks!


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters…and that makes me sad…

I think this is the longest chapter yet. Awesome! Go me! Hope I can keep it up. But I absolutly love the way this chapter has turned out. I've been working on this baby for a while and it turned out alright. Hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

**Unforeseen**

_The Beast's castle_

The wind howled about them as they walked through the courtyard leading to the castle's entrance. Roxas glanced around, hair blowing madly around as he took in his surroundings in the light the moon provided.

"Boy…it sure does look more…" Goofy trailed off, holding his shield in front of him as he walked, one hand gripping his cap as the wind continued to blow.

"Creepy?" Donald offered, swinging around his staff with little care against the strong wind.

"Ya! That's the word!"

Their footsteps echoed as they drew up the stairs and to the huge double doors. With grunts and groans, the three slowly but surely pushed on the doors, earning a long, eerie creak as the door was finally shoved open.

The door gave out a long groan as it finally swung all the way open, revealing the dark depths of the castle. Courtesy of the moon, the outline of objects such as the pillars aligning the massive entrance were visible as well as the huge staircase, but other than that, all was encased in darkness and barely visible even for him, a being of darkness.

Roxas stood in the middle of the door opening, peering inside with a child's curiosity. A sudden shove behind him caused him to stumble into the dark depths of the castle, arms flaring out to stop the sudden movement.

Spinning around, he glared at the moon-illuminated form of Donald waving at him from behind Goofy who in typical Goofy fashion was waving at him also.

Rolling his eyes, he turned back and proceeded into the castle. His hearing picked up the footsteps of the two trailing behind him, but his attention was focused on the door that stood ajar on the right side of the entryway, a soft glow coming from it. With little effort, Roxas crept closer to the door, moving around the pillars to better adjust his plotted course, being as silent as possible.

The three neared the door, hands posed to open it when a sudden, ear splitting roar echoed through the castle. Donald and Goofy shuddered at the all too familiar roar while Roxas shot his gaze to rest at the top of the massive staircase where the noise emitted from.

There, in all his raging glory, stood the Beast. His cape fluttered magnificently, flapping violently by the make shift wind created due to his abrupt skid to a halt. His eyes were wide with anger, his nostrils flaring out from ragged, deep breaths. The Beast bared his large teeth before tearing down the staircase directly towards the three…his eyesight drawn to Roxas.

Donald and Goofy gave out startled cries before rushing to get out of the Beast's way, scattering in opposite directions. Roxas clenched his teeth, barring them as well before summoning both the keyblades, illuminating the dark portion of the castle with their light.

The Beast gave out a growl as he lunged at Roxas, bearing down on the nobody with brute force. Roxas swung Oblivion upwards, catching the Beast's mighty jaws around the black blade with Oathkeeper pressing up against the Beast's heaving chest.

Roxas' eyes widened as he heard Oblivion begin to groan, giving off a creak as it started to bend against the enormous pressure. With a flick of his hand, he dismissed Oathkeeper, bringing both hands to push up against Oblivion. Silently he prayed for the keyblade to uphold, cringing visibly as the blade continued to give off unnatural noises. The Beast pressed forward, causing Roxas to skid across the marble flooring despite his attempts to stand his ground.

The Beast snarled, bringing his left arm up and around to connect with the nobody, sending him sailing backwards. Roxas flew back into the door that stood ajar, hitting it with sickening force causing the door to swing violently open as he crashed into the room. He bounced off the floor a few times, each time landing in odd angels before stopping to a halt on the carpet below him. The Beast bit down hard on the blade within his mouth, testing the heavy metal before spitting out Oblivion, the keyblade clanging loudly as it hit the marble flooring.

Without letting Roxas recover, the Beast was on him once again, charging through the now opened doorway. As quickly as possible, Roxas rolled out of the way as the Beast pounced for him, missing him by mere inches.

"You!!" The Beast cried, his voice booming through the room, swinging madly at the nobody that currently was a target of his rage. Roxas quickly stood, backing away hastily as he summoned Oathkeeper, pointing it threateningly at the Beast.

"Wait! Beast! Don't you remember us?!?!" Donald asked, shouting a safe distance from the open doorway.

The Beast glanced up at the two, his breathing ragged and labored from his rage. His eyes softened a bit before glancing back at Roxas.

His eyes quickly regained their look of rage.

"_You will NOT take Belle from me!!!_" He growled out, lunging at Roxas who swung the Keyblade at him in defense.

"He's not here to take Belle!!" Goofy shouted over the commotion, trying his best to explain.

The Beast gave out a mighty howl as the Keyblade struck his forearm, drawing blood. Roxas backed away, the stained tip of Oathkeeper pointed at the wounded creature. With little acknowledgement of his new injury, the Beast tackled Roxas, ignoring the blade that dug into his right shoulder, just above his fresh cut.

Roxas tried to draw breath as he was knocked on to the marble flooring, the Beast pinning him to the ground with either of his hands on his shoulders, Oathkeeper pinned uselessly to his side.

The claws dug painfully into his shoulders, drawing blood as they slowly pierced flesh. The Beast lowered his face mere inches from Roxas, allowing his ragged breathing to cross the trapped form beneath him.

Roxas squirmed as barred teeth were revealed to him, drool slowly seeping off prominent fangs, a low warning growl directed at him.

The Beast took a quick inhale of Roxas, sniffing the odor all beings gave off.

His pupil's dilated, much like a cat's eyes do when they sniffed prey.

"_You_," The Beasts voice was even, his breathing once again ragged. "_Are a nobody!!! Your from the Organization!!_" He growled out, drawing back his left fist to lay a final hit.

Roxas clenched his eyes shut.

"Wait!!" A female voice cried out. Automatically, the rage and anger were forgotten.

"Belle?" The Beast asked, pulling off of Roxas to walk over to the female figure at the top of the stairs leading into the room.

Belle frowned at the Beast, hands on her hips and her left foot tapping slightly. "What is going on here?" She asked, looking around the huge form of the Beast at Roxas who lay still on the floor, unwilling to move just yet.

Goofy and Donald rushed towards him, standing on either side of the downed nobody.

"You okay?" Goofy asked, leaning over to inspect Roxas who just stared up at him blankly. After a moment, Roxas nodded, dismissing Oathkeeper and slowly sitting up to gaze at the women that broke up the fight.

"Well?" Belle asked again, stepping down to the room, walking by the Beast and towards the group.

"Well I …." The Beast began, walking after Belle with an apologetic look on his face.

"Are you okay?" Belle asked, kneeling by Roxas. Roxas smiled lightly at her despite the Beast just looming over her, eyes still boring into him.

"I'm fine." He winced as Donald touched the holes the Beast's claws made through the vest he wore.

"Doesn't seem like it." Donald countered, earning a look of anger as he touched another open wound along his shoulders.

"Here, I can help."

Belle dug her hand into her pocket, pulling out a small bandana, looking expectantly at him. Reluctantly, Roxas shrugged off his vest to allow Belle to work on the wounds.

The Beast huffed angrily before storming off, his heavy steps fading from hearing range.

"Still the same?" Donald asked beside Belle.

Belle smiled and laughed, eyes glistening as she dabbed at the open wounds carefully. "Of course! Just as mean tempered as ever." Goofy smiled back at her.

"But not around you Belle." Goofy replied to which Belle smiled fondly at the knight, moving to refold the bandana to dab at the wound with a clean section of material.

"Don't worry about me." Roxas finally stated, having enough of the pain that was currently enveloping him. He quickly pulled away from her gentle touch to stand, pulling on his discarded vest in the process.

He walked over to where Oblivion lay and picked it up, examining it. Despite the deep gouges where the Beast's teeth sunk in, the weapon looked nonetheless worse despite the beating it took. He pointed the Keyblade up. "Heal!" He shouted, glowing green as the magic did its work, leaving him looking non the worse for wear.

"Oh. Looks like you were fine after all." Belle admitted, looking up at him as she stood up, all the while examining him closely. She squinted her eyes, tilting her head slightly as she gazed at him, one brow arched in a physical question.

"What is your name?" She questioned Roxas, "And what happened to Sora? I thought you three were always together?" She asked the two beside him. Donald and Goofy's faces fell at the mention of Sora's name, their eyes casting towards the ground.

"My name is Roxas." He introduced himself, dismissing Oblivion with a simple hand motion. He glanced back at Donald and Goofy, who seemed in no mood to explain Sora's absence. Taking a deep breath, he began.

"Sora….he…he lost his heart. We're trying to get it back." Roxas replied, digging into his pant pocket to give her the scroll the King had given them.

She reached out her hand, taking the scroll readily. Belle pulled back slightly to get better lighting from the fireplace, eyes scanning the neatly rolled up paper. Slowly, she traced the King's symbol with her index finger before pulling on the ties that held it rolled up. The paper fell open to reveal the message from the King.

Belle read silently, a sad look replacing her normally happy features. With a sigh, she rolled up the scroll before holding it to her. She turned to look at Donald and Goofy, offering a smile.

"I'll help. Just let me help him. He needs me." Donald and Goofy exchanged smiles before nodding.

"Of course! We'll wait." Donald reassured, taking a seat at the chair in the room. Belle smiled at him before walking out of the room to attend to the Beast. A thick silence filled the room, Goofy whistling off key to try and lift the heaviness of the room but failing miserably.

"You didn't tell me he would react that way."

Donald peered over the arm of the chair at Roxas who leaned against the wall to the right of the chair. Unintentionally, his eyes were drawn to the holes visible on the nobodies vest. Weakly, the wizard offered a smile.

"We didn't know. Honest." Donald defended, folding his arms over his chest as he sank back into the chair.

"Ya. He only acted like that one time…well…." Goofy frowned; holding up his gloved hand and began counting.

Shaking his head, Roxas headed out the door and into the main entry hall. He was in no mood to hear any more excuses.

Donald and Goofy didn't follow.

Dejected, Roxas walked around the castle, keeping his gaze downcast as he struggled to blow off his steam.

Why was he doing this in the first place? He didn't need Sora, nor did he _need_ to help Sora. Frustrated, he summoned Oblivion, swinging it viciously at a suite of armor that stood to his right. He allowed all his rage to seep past him as he vented his anger out on the poor suite of armor, ignoring the loud clanging and loud cries of frustration he was giving off. Breathing heavily, he examined the carnage he created.

Breaking from his destruction, he glanced up at his surroundings and found himself in a grand hallway. On either side of the hall stood more armored soldiers, each holding a spear. Glancing behind him, he frowned. He didn't realize he wandered so far.

Running a hand through his blond hair, he continued forward, leaving the mangled pieces of armor where they lay.

* * *

"Where did Roxas go?" Goofy asked, putting down his hand after several minutes.

"Who knows." Donald responded, his eyes shut while he relaxed, hat tipped over to cover his eyes.

"Shouldn't we be with him?" Donald opened one of his eyes to gaze at Goofy from under the cap.

"What for?" Goofy placed a hand on his head, scratching it slightly as he adjusted his cap.

"Well…"

"Exactly." Donald replied, scooting down the seat further to lie on its comfy cushion.

"I'll be back in a jiffy!" Donald grunted in response, making himself at home while he waited.

"Roxas!" Goofy shouted as soon as he stepped out of the room, trudging along the castle. He lifted an ear, hoping to hear a response, but none came.

"I wonder where he could be…" He asked himself, swinging his head both left and right to look for the missing nobody.

Walking up the main set of stairs of the castle, he called out once again, earning no reply once again.

* * *

He was emotionally tired, he told himself. Or was he just trying to make himself believe that? Either way, he sat on a small set of stairs, leading to God knows where, as tired as he ever felt.

He knew he could feel pain, it was obvious, and he knew he could feel physical stresses, but it was the emotional ones…

Shaking his head, he tried to get himself off that train of thought. Giving off another long sigh, he folded his hands and placed them on his bent knees. He rested his aching head on the self-made pillow while closing his eyes, desperately wishing that this whole ordeal wasn't real. He prayed that it was all a dream…

He shifted, drawing in closer to himself, wishing more than anything that things had not changed. What good was he? He was just Sora's nobody, half of Sora, half of his power, a non-feeling being. He hated the painful teasing of being able to walk around now wherever he pleased, knowing it would not last as soon as Sora regained his heat…he would have to go back to him…

He felt rage build up once again as his thoughts turned to that of the Organization. He left them, 'betrayed' them and still; he was associated with them and their evil deeds…they were his friends at one point...Axel…a small smile formed at the thought of the pyro maniac.

A small gust of air blew across his neck, sending shivers through his body. He shifted uncomfortably before curling up more against himself.

Another gust, this time, his hair swept forward then back. Instantly, his head shot up, but he refused to look back. A dark, low growl was directed into his ear as another gust of air flew past his ear. He could feel the Beast bend closer to him, a low, but audible growl coming from him, and in an instant, Roxas scrambled away to safety against the wall opposite of the stairs, just beside a wooden door.

The Beast starred at him from the top of the steps, an unemotional look plastered on his face. Roxas forced his heaving chest to slow as he rested against the cold wall. He was glad in this instant that he did not own a heart, for it would have stopped functioning at that moment.

Looking closer at the Beast, he could see the matted spots where obviously Belle had worked on. On the Beasts right shoulder, where the keyblade had pierced skin, was a piece of cloth that was delicately tied in a bow, his forearm also covered by a similar piece of cloth.

The Beast stepped closer, his approach silent except for his claws hitting the ground. Glancing around his surrounding, Roxas analyzed which way to go if he was attacked again.

"Stop that! You're scaring him!" Belle scolded as she walked into the scene, causing the Beast to flinch at her tone.

She strolled by the Beast and over to Roxas' side. "He won't hurt you." Roxas gave her a skeptical look before easing himself up to stand.

"Where's Donald and Goofy?" She asked, looking around the vast hallway for their presence.

"I think they're still in that room we met in." Belle nodded thoughtfully before smiling brightly.

"We'll, let's get going." The Beast gave her a startled look, unaware of her new intentions.

He immediately spun around to face Roxas, his teeth once again fully barred.

"_I told you! You're not going to take her from me!!" _He roared.

"Beast! Wait!" Belle cried after him as he lunged for Roxas. More aware this time around, Roxas made a mad dash in the direction he came in, busting through the doors with ease with the Beast hot on his heels.

"Well hi their Rox—" Goofy was cut off as Roxas bumped into him, sending the two down the long staircase. With grunts and cries, the two rolled down the stairs before landing in a large clump on the floor.

A loud crash behind him sent Roxas free of the tangle in an instant and towards the still open front door.

Goofy yelped as the Beast crashed down next to him, roaring at the downed knight.

"**Get out!!!"** He cried, swinging at him.

"Belle!!!" Goofy cried out, rushing to get to his feet before running as fast as he could away from the mad form behind him.

Goofy shot up as the Beast swung at him, missing the knight by a few hairs.

"Donald!!" Goofy shouted, running past the door Donald was in.

"Huh?" Was the reply.

Both Goofy and Roxas rushed out the castle, stopping only until they came to the gates leading out to their Gummi ship. The Beast stood at the doors, nostrils blaring as he turned into the castle and disappeared.

"Well, what do we do now?" Goofy asked, side stepping out of the way as Donald landed with a thud beside the two.

"What's the big idea!?!?!?" Donald asked angrily, jumping up to glare at the Beast.

The two large doors slammed shut, the last image seen was that of Belle.

"That worked perfectly." Roxas murmured, scratching the back of his neck before walking back to the Gummi ship.

"What did you do to him?" Donald asked, dusting off his feathers and adjusting his hat.

"Nothing!!" Was the shouted reply from the two.

The three walked in silence as they closed in on where the Gummi ship was parked.

Silently, the three loaded into the new ship before preparing to leave, not a word was spoken.

Roxas plopped himself onto the pilot's seat, letting out a long sigh. He shut his eyes, listening to the rummaging of Donald and Goofy as they took there given seats.

"Where to now?" Donald asked, watching Roxas shift in his seat.

Cracking his eyes open, he reached down to pat his pant pocket, searching for the scrolls. He lazily rummaged through the remaining scrolls before pulling out one that fell into his grasping hand.

"Well, it looks like were going to 'Wonderland'."

* * *

Ah...my pride and joy. I enjoyed doing this chapter...and its long! How cool is that?! Just keep those encouraging reviews coming! It will be extremly appreciated.

Thanks!!!


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters…and that makes me sad…

**Author's Note:** Alright, I'll admit, I've been **_EXTREMLY_** lazy as of late…but I can explain. Since school is not going on at this moment, I have no time to sit during precious studying time and muse…which does terribly suck. But never fear! School starts up on Tuesday…so I should be able to focus and stuff….on other things besides school.

* * *

**Unforeseen**

**Somewhere in a dark forest:**

Everything seemed far too cheerful, and Riku didn't like it. The birds and the deer around them frolicked about, stopping occasionally to gaze at them with innocent and curious eyes before continuing in their frolicking. Despite the vicious looking forest that loomed around them, that did nothing to stop the happiness the animals seemed to emit.

"What's the matter Riku?" The King asked from his left as they walked along a small dirt trail leading to an unknown location.

"Nothing." Came the curt reply.

A small baby deer nuzzled his leg affectionately as he walked, hoping to gain some small form of attention as it walked along side the tall human. Riku looked down at the deer, an unreadable look gracing his face as his silver hair fell over his shoulders, faming his face menacingly.

The deer coward away from Riku and ran back to the Kings side who stopped a few steps behind to glance back at the dark woods they just exited from.

"What is it?" Riku asked this time, looking back at the darkness the forest seemed to spew out.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing." The King answered, shaking his head before walking to catch up to Riku. The two continued on the dirt path, stopping occasionally when the animals running about them became a walking hazard.

"I wonder who would live here." Riku muttered, looking around the dense portion of forest before him, the bright sunlight creeping through the braches to hit the forest floor.

A small blue bird landed cheerfully on his shoulder, singing loudly as other birds flew by in a small flock. Riku shrugged his shoulder, shooing the bird off as another landed firmly in his hair. He winced as the bird plucked a few strands of silver hair from his scalp before batting it away. The bird seemed to laugh as it fluttered away with the strands firmly in its beak while joining the swarm it derived from.

"Who's there?" A gruff voice asked, seemingly out of nowhere. Animals and humans alike stopped their movements, freezing to look about. Arching an eyebrow under the veil of silver hair, Riku looked to the King who merely shrugged, a hand firmly placed upon the small fawn who insistently tried to nuzzle.

A violent sneeze cut through the animal's happy parade, sending them scattering for cover.

The bushes they had just past moved slightly, followed by soft arguing. The bush visibly shook, leaves and twigs rustling from the hidden movements within it. Both Riku and Mickey turned to glance questioningly at the bush; keyblade's appearing as they stood in their battle stances.

"Alright, alright!" A voice boomed above the others from within the bush.

Out of the bush, stepped out a short man, a hat upon his head, a white beard gracing his face, and glasses perched upon a shiny nose that was colored red from the sun and heat.

He cleared his voice, adjusted his glasses and walked up to the two, noticing quickly the key shaped swords they brandished in his direction. Jumping slightly, the man fiddeled with his glasses once more, trying to appear utterly confident despite visibly shaking hands.

Upon seeing the small man, the two immediately dismissed the blades, hands dropping peacefully to their sides, but neither let down their guard.

"What are you doing here?" The small man questioned, hesitating before stepping up to the two as the voices in the bushes began to build once again.

The small man spun around to glare at the bush, small arms folded to rest upon his hips while giving the bush a good glare, earning some quiet before looking back at Riku and the King.

The man cleared his throat once again, eyes peering at the bush before continuing. "What are you doing here?" He questioned again, moving to fold his arms to his rounded belly.

"I'm Mickey Mouse." Motioning to the tall boy beside him, the king continued. "And this is Riku. We're here to see Snow White."

The voices in the bushes boomed to an all time high before six more small figures stormed out into the open, all quarrelling among themselves.

"Now wait a minute!" The man that approached them began, turning to quite down his friends with a wave of his hands. "What do you need with Snow White?" He asked, eyes narrowing at the two suspiciously.

"Is it alright if we see her?" King Mickey asked. The seven small figures crowded around into a group, talking hushed as they whispered among themselves, heads occasionally popping up to stare at the two figures before rejoining in the huddle.

After a few minutes, a conclusion was met. "So it's settled!" The man that approached them early spun around and bowed politely, the six other figures following suite.

"Of course your majesty! You may see Snow White." They all chimed.

"I'm Doc." The small man who first approached them bowed once again before turning to the others, pointing at each individual while announcing them.

"This is Bashful, Sleepy, Grumpy," A grunt came in response, "And then there is Dopey, Happy, and Sneezy. And were…"

"The seven dwarfs." They all replied in unison, seeming oddly rehearsed. As quickly as possible, the strange seven formed a straight line before turning to march in the direction on the dirt path the Riku and the King were taking.

"C'mon Riku!" The king shouted, sounding immensely happy as he too joined in the line, the deer and birds swarming around the formation as though nothing had happened.

Shaking his head, Riku followed a short distance behind, embarrassed to be seen with the small parade. This was not something he would be mentioning to the rest of the guys back at the island he concluded as he continued to watch the line continue on with such precision. The seven dwarfs hummed to themselves, swaying slightly in rhythm to their self-supplied beat, an eager mouse joining in wherever possible.

After several minuets, and non-stop humming, the group came across a small cottage a few feet away from a small stream along side a water trough. The trees seemed to open up, revealing the tiny house and its chimney that currently was billowing out smoke.

A small breeze blew by, caring the delicious smell of cooking meats and the sweet smell of fruits. "Mmmm! That smells good!" Shouted a dwarf from within the line formation; each dwarf licking their lips in anticipation as they inhaled their dinner.

"Smells like supper is almost ready! I can't wait!" Happy said, turning to nudge Sleepy awake who awoke with a start.

"It's not often we get a home-cooked meal." Doc explained to the King and Riku as he walked toward the small house, the others running in front before tearing open the door and pushing their way into the cottage. "We're always working, and when we get home we're too tired. But once and a while, Snow White visits us--"

"And that means we don't eat anything that tastes bad." Grumpy interrupted from behind, electing to stay with the three, all the while smirking at Doc's attempt to glare at him.

Glancing up at the sky, it indeed was taking on an orange hue as the sun was beginning to set…wasn't it barely morning when they left? Riku cast a questioningly look at the king who shrugged at the unspoken question, his lips curling into a smile.

"Different time zones?" He offered as they neared the entryway to the cottage. Doc and Grumpy walked on in with the King in two, leaving Riku standing just outside the cottage.

Groaning in frustration, Riku eyed the small door way warily. The entire group had made it in, except for him. The door ended about a few centimeters from his shoulder, preventing him from making a dignified entrance.

"Riku? You coming in?" The king asked, peering up at him from the doorway. Riku glared down at him, trying to figure out how he could make this work.

"Just crawl in." A voice shouted from the inside of the cottage much to the amusement of the others. Riku scowled at that thought and stepped away from the door, considering his options seriously.

"Aww, come on Riku. You can do it." The king encouraged, smiling up at him as the smell of fresh food floated by.

Reluctantly, Riku pushed his pride aside, and crouched down, hobbling inside the small cottage only to go red in the face as everyone was looking at him. Thank goodness for long hair.

"Come on in." A female voice floated above the commotion in the cottage. "Make yourself at home."

Scanning the surprisingly roomy area, he spotted a small bench that a normal human could sit on along the wall furthest from him and managed to move himself in that direction without much of a problem.

Seating himself without much embarrassment, Riku glanced at the homey surrounding the cottage offered. Lined up against the walls were several wooden cabinets carved delicately with vines and flowers. To the left, as soon as you would walk in, was the cooking area complete with a water pump, sink and counters.

The roof of the cottage accommodated the average height of a normal person without a problem, just barely though, but Riku just wasn't normal when it came to height.

Turning his attention to the commotion in the cottage, he noticed the seven dwarfs sitting at the table in the middle of the kitchen, a large feast in front of them as they helped themselves to their dinner.

Snow White made a disappointed noise by clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, showing disapproval for what she saw.

"Did you remember to wash your hands?" She questioned, watching as the dwarf's sank in their given seats before slowly getting up and making their way outside to clean up, heads dropped and shoulders slouched in a visibly sign of defeat.

The King gave a short laugh, but immediately stopped when Snow White leveled her gaze on the two. Obediently, they followed the dwarf's out the door to wash up in the trough.

"She's something, ain't she?" Grumpy asked as he scrubbed his hands with soap, almost sounding happy about the interruption of their food. The bar of soap was passed around until all hands were spotless and noticeably cleaner.

Once their hands were as clean as possible, the group made their way back into the cottage, forming a single line as one by one Snow White appraised their hands for their level of cleanliness.

Once given entrance, the dwarf's settled in their seats once again, resuming their eating as though nothing had happened.

"Here you go." Snow White smiled at Riku as he took his seat once again, offering him a plate piled on with several assorted foods before joining the dwarfs at the table.

"Sorry there isn't enough room at the table." Doc apologized, taking a break from biting into his apple. "We aren't use to having visitors." The six other dwarfs nodded before continuing to eat.

Mickey walked up to where Riku sat and joined him as they ate.

Swinging his legs slightly, the king watched the activities taking place. The group ate in silence, except for the occasional burp and argument for the remaining slice of pie.

With quick efficiency, Snow White stood from her seat ad began gathering the plates and dishes from the table. The full dwarfs leaned back in their seats, smiling contently.

Riku slowly stood up while gathering his plate and that of the King's. He walked over to the sink area where Snow White currently stood over, washing the dishes as she hummed to herself. He glanced at the bird's that sat at the windowsill, who seemed to sing along with her and at the bunnies within the house that seemed to be helping with the dishes…

A tug on the plates he held brought him back to reality. He broke his gaze with the bunnies helping with the dishes to meet Snow White's smiling face.

He immediately felt his cheeks grow hot as he ducked his head, trying to hide the red his cheeks adorned.

"Thank you." He managed to croak out before handing her the plates.

She smiled at him, her yellow gown glowing gold by the light of the fireplace. "You're welcome. Now please, make yourself comfortable."

Riku nodded as he hurriedly sat back at the bench. Mickey leaned forward, struggling to see Riku's face clearly.

"What's the matter Riku?"

"Nothing." Mickey frowned at the quickness of the response but said nothing, turning his attention to the dwarf's who sat at the table, quarreling over something.

"Behave yourselves." Snow White reminded. "We have company." The quarrel was instantly over except for a few more words spoken.

The only noise in the cottage now was the clanking of dishes as they were scrubbed clean and the crackling of wood in the fireplace.

A few minutes went by before Snow White was finished, sitting herself in her seat at the table.

"Now," She began, smoothing out her dress. "What is it you would like to discuss?" She questioned.

"Well," Looking at the dwarf's who did nothing to hide the fact that they were eavesdropping, King Mickey smiled slightly, motioning to the seven. "Can we go a little more private?" He asked.

"Of course." Snow White stood, her eyes on the dwarf's before walking towards a stairway leading to a single room at the top.

"This way." The King stood, following Snow White while motioning Riku to follow.

The stairs creaked under the unusual weight of Riku, but held strong.

The door closed as the three stepped in the dimly lit room. Snow White moved to light an oil lamp that sat at a drawer wedged between two beds, casting shadows in the cluttered room. Instantly, the room seemed more lively and cheerful.

Amazing how much light meant in a world such as this.

Snow White sat at a small bed with the name 'Grumpy' on it, fixing her dress before motioning the two to do the same.

With a creek, the two sat across from the bed she sat on with the name 'Doopey' adorned on it.

As soon as they were settled, the King pulled out a scroll from his vest pocket and handed it to Snow White, face stern and unreadable.

"What's this?" She questioned, looking at the King with puzzlement.

The King glanced at Riku before clearing his throat to begin.

"Well," He began, as Snow White read her scroll.

"Do you remember the Door to Darkness?" Snow White shot her gaze to meet the King's eyes.

"I do." Her voice barely peaked above that of a whisper.

"We need to open it again." He told her quietly, hearing several creaks from the staircase.

Pulling up the scroll, she read on in silence. After a few moments, she neatly rolled up the scroll before staring at her lap.

The door suddenly fell open, revealing several body parts in odd angels as the dwarf's landed with a thud.

Doopey immediately pulled himself from the pile on the floor, running to Snow White's side, pulling off his hat and looking pleadingly up at her.

She frowned slightly, looking up to the other dwarf's who had a stern look on their face.

"Where are they taking you this time?" Doc asked, pushing himself up from the pile of dwarf's.

"I only met him once…" Snow White began, focusing on the King.

"Who?" The group questioned, crowding around her.

Riku couldn't believe what he was hearing. He opened his mouth to protest, but Snow White spoke again.

"But I will do it. He restored our world, and for that, I am eternally grateful."

The Kind smiled thankfully at her. The dwarf's starred at her, hurt and bewilderment in their eyes.

"But first, I have a favor to ask of you." She let her gaze drop to the dwarf's who crowded around her, her lips forming a loving smile at their devotion.

"Name it." Mickey said, standing up off the bed, listening attentively.

"Well," She began, reaching up to stroke Doopey's smooth head while glancing at the others. "There are rumors that she still roams the woods." She said, not taking her eyes off the dwarf's.

"She?" Riku asked from his seat on Doopey's bed.

"My evil step-mother. There have been people who come to the palace, and speak of the witch that haunts these woods." She said, motioning to the woods just outside the cottage.

"You can hear her at night sometimes." Bashful piped up, twiddling his thumbs together in shyness.

"How long has this been going on?" The King asked, leaning forward to listen attentively.

"Well, as long as she has been gone. That would be about…"

"We don't keep count." Grumpy spoke, his harsh voice drawing attention.

"Have any of you seen her?" Riku asked, watching the dwarf's turn to Doopey who was hiding against Snow White's side.

"Doopey has." Doc replied, patting the young dwarf's back as a sign of comfort.

The King looked to Riku who just shrugged in response. "Well do it." The dwarf's jumped up, locking arms with one another as they danced around the small bedroom.

Snow White laughed at their antics, clapping along as they sang and whistled.

"We'll leave tonight." The King promised, standing only to be swamped into the dancing.

The dancing party was taken downstairs, the dwarf's breaking out musical instruments and playing as they danced and continued to sing.

Riku was startled to feel two soft hands at his left forearm, tugging him to stand. Obediently, he stood, staring down at Snow White with a questioning look. She simply smiled up at him before tugging him downstairs. She released him as soon as her feet touched the wooden floor of the cottage, dancing around with the dwarf's and the King.

A small heat came to his face once again as Snow White danced towards him, her dress flapping from her movements. She came to a halt before him, cheeks reddened from the dancing with a delicate smile upon her lips. "Come." She offered him her hand.

He stared at the pale hand outstretched to him for a few seconds before bowing his head in defeat. Timidly, he reached out to take her hand and was instantly pulled to his feet.

This was defiantly something he was going to leave out when he told the others what they had done.

* * *

**Author's note:** Okay, okay. I honestly had to admit I had **NO CLUE** what to name this world…so I just skipped it. Any suggestions for a name would be much appreciated. I just couldn't think of a nice lively name for such a bubbly world. Hehehe…and also…I'm purposely making things hard on Riku. He just seems like the type to squirm under embarrassing circumstances…and under the attention of a pretty lady. **Please **review! Thanks!


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters…and that makes me sad…

**Author's Note:** Thank goodness for ice! No school!! Hurray! Well, I love this chapter! I've spent _sooo_ much time on it and I am super proud of the way it came out. Hope you like it too. And thanks to you who have reviewed!

_Evil Genius of the COCA: _Of course I had to make fun of the Ri! It's just fun to poke at the badass, gotta knock him down a peg or two. And later…it could happen again. Who knows…Hehehe. Thanks for the review!!

_Courage Sun:_ It is always fun to pick on Riku. Yep. Nothing gives me greater pleasure. And it is a big change from what he 'is' in the game. As demanded, here is the latest installment of the story. Hope you like! And thanks for the review!

* * *

**Unforeseen**

Wonderland

"We're lost." Donald said, all emotion void of the statement.

"You think?" Roxas asked sarcastically causing Donald to glare up at him as they continued to walk.

The three continued to wander around, the thick forest holding no clues as where would be the best direction to go. Only a small red trail offered the lost any form of hope.

Goofy walked a few steps ahead of them; his head hanging dangerously low with both legs doing a windmill like motion as he walked, a stern look on his otherwise happy face. The knight's ears occasionally swept the ground as he monitored their progress closely, right hand held up to block any other distraction from his detailed scanning. After a period of silence, Goofy shot up from his hunching to look at the two following him with less than enthusiastic looks on their faces.

"We're going in circles." He announced proudly, pointing to the spot where he stopped, letting out a loud chuckle. Inching closer, Roxas noticed Goofy pointing to twin trails that his ears obviously made. The tips of the offender's ears were dusted in a red powder that matched the red road they walked on. Roxas felt his right eye involuntary twitch at the scene.

"Goofy!" Donald cried out in frustration, waving his arms about angrily as he summoned his Save the Queen. Immediately, Goofy started in a full out run, summoning his Save the King to shield his head from the barrage of blows.

"That's the last time I try to help!" Goofy cried out as Donald's Save the Queen dinged his shield as he ran for his life further down the trail.

"How did he put up with them?" Roxas asked himself as he watched the two disappear from sight around a bend in the trail, shaking his head at their antics all the while.

Sighing, he reached up to place his arms behind his neck, continuing in his leisurely pace as he followed the two. The forest around him seemed to grow closer with every step he took. Glancing around into the trees, he could clearly see several pairs of eyes following him as he passed. He dropped his arms from his neck and quickened his pace, eyes focusing on the trail as he tried to catch up with the two who did nothing to try to keep their voices down.

"C'mon Donald! I tried!" Goofy shouted, yelping as the shield he brandished gave off a mighty clang through the nearby vicinity as Donald's weapon smashed into it.

Suddenly, the commotion ended abruptly, the area becoming dead silent. "Guys?" Roxas shouted, arms flying up to cuff his mouth for better volume. No response.

Dropping his hands from his mouth, he began to jog along the trail. Straining, he tried to pick up any faint traces of any noise produced by the two, but still, there was no sound.

"Guys?" He shouted once again, voice wavering; from what, he didn't know. Still no response.

Fear began to overtake him as he began to run in the direction they disappeared too. He summoned both the keyblade's, Oathkeeper out in front with Oblivion clutched in his right, occasionally twirling it out of habit.

He rushed forward up the red trail until he came upon a vast green field. He slowed to a walk before coming to a complete stop. He dropped Oathkeeper to his side, doing the same to Oblivion as he scanned the open area.

The field held nothing more than ornately trimmed white rose bushes that resembled Aces, Hearts and crowns.

To the right and left of him, just beyond the exit of the forest, was a line of regular, oversized bushes, a small hidden path just behind them.

"You're not him." A voice stated out of the blue. Startled, Roxas glanced around, looking for the owner of the voice, unconsciously clutching the blade's tighter.

"Who's there?" Roxas demanded, drawing up Oathkeeper and Oblivion.

The voice seemed to laugh at him. "The question is, **_what,_** is there." Roxas shifted uneasily.

"What happened to him?" The voice asked, defying logic by booming at him in all directions. Roxas frowned, dismissing Oblivion to hold onto Oathkeeper with both his hands, keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings.

"What are you talking about?" Roxas spat angrily, continuing to look for the owner of the voice. A faint outline of a cat appeared just to the side of him, smiling sinisterly.

"The one that you are replacing."

Just then, a sudden, sharp blow hit him square in the left temple, sending him to the ground; unconscious. Oathkeeper landed with a thud beside him before shattering into tiny light fragments. The object that crashed into Roxas unfurled itself, its tiny eyes peering at the person it collided with before scurrying to get back on track in its supposed course, leaving the figure lying on the floor without a second glance back.

* * *

_Dazed, he slowly cracked his eyes open to gaze at the darkness that currently surrounded him. He was kneeling, he noted immediately. Blearily, he glanced down, feeling his breath catch in his throat at the sight he beheld._

_This is what Sora saw. _

_Immediately, he shot his hands up to grasp the blade that was currently imbedded through him. He quickly wrapped his hands around the blade, feeling the sharp metal pierce through his skin without a problem. A cold chill ran through his spine as black feathers brushed by him, their prominent outline sending him deeper into a panic._

"_I wanted to see you Roxas." He froze at that comment…_

…_the familiarity of that voice… _

_Turning his head slowly, he looked over his left shoulder at the figure behind him._

_Shocked blue eyes instantly locked onto narrowed emerald eyes._

_Axel stared down at him, both hands firmly at the sword's hilt. His black trench coat fluttered in the unfelt breeze, causing it to rub up against Roxas as Sephiroth's wing had done to Sora. _

"_A-Axel?" He stammered, feeling the blade shift a bit. Axel stared at his former companion, digging the blade deeper, earning a hiss of pain from the other nobody. _

"_P-please…Stop." Roxas whispered, his hold on the blade increasingly painfully as he clung to it. The red-haired nobody didn't respond, just continued to stare at him. _

_After a period of time, Axel complied. A sadistic smile formed over his pursed lips before he adjusted his grip on the hilt, yanking it clear out of Roxas with little care._

_Roxas hunched forward, clutching his stomach tightly, feeling all that he was starting to escape him. Blackness slowly poured out from him, oozing out through his fingers to join the darkness around him._

_He was fading._

_Axel slowly walked forward, shoes clanging loudly as he continued on wielding the mighty sword stained with his emptiness. Axel chuckled darkly while circling Roxas to admire his handy-work, giving off a low whistle of approval. _

"_We trusted you Roxas. We** all** did." Axel said, still unemotional as he circled. "Why did you have to betray us all?" He asked, stopping in front of Roxas, awaiting an answer._

_Roxas gasped heavily for breath, the darkness he fell into overcoming him. His vision slowly was fading, leaving nothing more than smears of color against black. Weakly, he glanced up at Axel, trying to focus on the face before him._

_He felt himself chuckle, just loud enough to be heard by his former companion before him "Because…" He paused, breathing heavily. "M-my heart…told me too." Roxas finished, the right corner of his lip twitching into a weak smirk. Axel scowled. Their eyes met, but only momentarily before Axel swung back with the sword, giving a frustrated grunt._

_Faintly, he could make out the outline of the sword as it came barreling towards him. _

* * *

Gasping for breath, Roxas sat up abruptly, eyes wide with pure fear.

"Shhh!" Donald tried to quiet him, pushing down on his shoulders to emphasize his point and to sooth the panicked teen.

"Ya…Shhh." Goofy repeated, holding his index finger in front of his mouth as an added gesture.

Finally relaxing, he allowed Donald to push him back down to the soft grassy floor. Staring up, he noticed that they were in a bush…a rather sizable bush it seemed. It must have been one of the bushes that he had seen earlier along each side of the clearing. The root of the bush lay connected to the ground a few inches from him as thick as a grown man's leg, the green leaves as big as a human hand, offering shelter to all that ventured beneath it.

Roxas continued to stare up at the mesh of green and brown, seeing a faint tinge of blue from the sky. Kinda like a giant umbrella used at the beach… Allowing his mind to drift back to his 'dream', he found his right arm snaking its way under his shirt and onto his smooth abdomen. Unconsciously, the tips of his fingers traced the indention of where Sephiroth ran his mighty sword straight through Sora…he had an indention?

Quickly, he pulled his fingers away from the area, before dropping his right hand to his side.

Slowly, he rolled himself onto his left side, immediately regretting it as pain shot though his left temple. He suppressed a cry of pain, sending a rogue hand flying up to investigate that source of pain.

He winced as his fingers made contact with a rather nasty bump, already forming a bruise, he assessed, feeling the level of tenderness. Risking it, he slowly sat up, hunching slightly to avoid hitting his head on the branches that hung low. Almost immediately, he noticed both Donald and Goofy peaking out of the bush, ignoring him completely as they stared through a small opening in the leaves.

"What are—." He was cut off by another wave of 'shh's.' Frowning, he slowly crawled over to where the two kneeled. They glanced at him, their eyes immediately drawn to the nasty bruise he dawned against his pale skin. He glared at the two, who simply gave him room to scoot into. He took the room given, and peeked outside the bush at whatever they were gazing at.

Immediately, he wished he hadn't, and began backpedaling, rubbing his eyes thoroughly, restraining himself not to gouge them out. Donald snickered silently, not wanting to look at the offending object that lay just outside the bush.

Just beyond the bush and facing their specific direction, the Queen of Hearts stood hunched over, a mallet of some kind grasped tightly with both hands and an object unseen just in front of her; Her white and heart graced undergarments proudly displayed for all to see…or all that dared to see. Her faithful guards stood around her, cheering her on as she proceeded to smack the living day lights out of a small object.

Roxas gave his eyes a final rub to glare at the two before him. He gave out a low growl before lunging at them. Donald gave a startled squawk while Goofy simply yelped.

The two jumped slightly, missing the tackle Roxas tried to deliver to them, and proceeded to scramble out from under the bush and towards another one nearby. Roxas frowned, pushing himself on his hands and knees to stare at the retreating forms of Sora's friends.

"Wait till I get you two!!" He shouted at them, moving to scurry out from under the bush. He was partially out and ready to bolt to the two he sought when a booming voice knocked him back to his hands and knees.

"Quiet!!" The Queen shouted to no one in particular.

Roxas shot his gaze to both Donald and Goofy, who hid in a bush a few feet away, laughing silently. Quickly, he started to crawl in that direction, by passing the rose bushes as he went.

"C'mon!" Goofy whispered to him, motioning to move a little faster. He never felt this ridiculous before…

A sudden yank on the tip of his pants sent him into a near panic-attack, the hairs on the back of his neck flying straight up. He glanced towards where the guards stood a few yards in front of the bushes and looked behind. He released a sigh of relief at what he found. He broke out into a frown, seeing his pant leg caught in a low rose branch that snagged the material with its sharp thorns.

He flexed his leg, but the thorn held fast. His frown deepened, as he proceeded to crawl again, hearing the pants beginning to rip. Cringing, he stopped moving to turn and glare at the small thorn. He relaxed his leg, turning to sit facing the offensive thorn, hands reaching out to touch the branch ensnaring him.

The branch creaked, but didn't break. Sighing, Roxas slowly leaned forward, his fingers delicately removing the thorn from his pant leg. Instantly, the branch shot back into place, sending red rose petals sailing into the air and over the bush he was trying to exit. Now free, he proceeded to enter the next bush, giving his best glare to the two as he slowly made his way into the over-sized bush.

"Look," Donald pointed, pulling Roxas fully into their makeshift base camp. "There she is." The wizard pulled the nobody closer, pointing a feathered finger in a certain direction.

Roxas peaked out of the leaves, a bit more tentative this time, to see a smaller figure next to that of the larger queen. "That's her?" He questioned, motioning to the blond.

Goofy nodded, eyes sparkling. "Yep. That's the one!"

"Well, let's go talk to her." Automatically, both Donald and Goofy clung to him, shaking their heads violently as he tried to get up to exit.

"No!" The two whispered harshly, almost pleadingly.

"Why not? Isn't that what we're here for?" Donald frowned at him as he relinquished his hold on his arm while crossing his hands in front of his chest at his obvious lack of knowledge on the subject.

"She'll cut off our heads." He stated simply, pointing accusingly to the queen at her general direction. He looked over at Goofy who nodded his head, both hands flying up to protect his neck from the mere thought.

With a stoic face in place, Roxas shrugged, leaning back till his back met the green foliage. "It's not like you use your heads." He muttered loud enough to be heard by the two next to him.

"Hey!" Was the shouted response as both Donald and Goofy's fists came crashing down on his abused head.

"How do we get her attention?" Roxas asked, clenching his teeth as he clung to his head, willing the pain to go away.

"Good question."

The three sat in silence, hearing the occasional shout of joy from the guards and the yelling of the Queen mingling together.

Boredom set in for the nobody. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Roxas reached above him to a red rose hanging down. Carefully, he picked the flower, admiring its beauty.

His index and thumb wrapped around a small petal in the center of the rose, picking it out to drop it on the grassy floor. He repeated the process, sending several more petals to the ground until he only held the green stem.

"Does she love ya?" Goofy questioned, to which Roxas blushed. Donald snickered knowingly, sending Roxas into an even deeper shade of red.

"She does hate it when people mess with her flowers." A voice spoke out of nowhere, startling the three. "Especially when it's a _nobody_." The voice stressed the last word, laughing hysterically as the voice echoed about them, leaving it hard to pinpoint.

Roxas looked at the other two who were glancing around for the unseen form. "Is that the Cheshire cat?" Goofy asked, swinging his head in circles, looking for the said cat.

"Why yes!" The Cheshire cat suddenly appeared in the middle of the group, a toothy grin on his face while standing proudly.

"What do you want?" Donald asked rudely, staring at the cat with suspicion.

"The question could be, what do _you_ want?" He rephrased, turning to flop onto his back, his stripped body withering as he laughed and rolled about before disappearing once again.

"Can you help us talk to Alice?" Goofy asked, spotting the cat hovering just above Roxas who grinned at the question, eyes twinkling with a devious plan.

"Of course!" The cat plopped himself onto Roxas' head, who in turn jerked his head forward from the sudden soft impact, sending the cat swan diving off his head and onto the grass where he landed gracefully.

The cat instantly vanished as soon as he touched the ground, leaving a stunned group of three behind. "What do ya think he'll do?" Goofy asked, looking at Donald who shrugged in response.

The small pile of petals in front of Roxas slowly floated upwards before disappearing outside the bush. Curiously, the three gathered around for the best vantage point as the petals slowly made their way to the group of guards just in front.

The Cheshire cat reappeared, petals stacked on his fluffy tail as he spotted the petals shot off the rose bush early. Quickly, he gathered the petals within his tiny paws, laughing silently as he lowered his tail to dispose his find onto of it before he disappeared, only the petals visible on his swaying tail.

The guards stood unaware as they laughed and nudged each other, taking amusement from the little girl as she tried her best to play with a limp 'mallet'. Alice turned to glare at the cards surrounding them, trying her best to get the bird to cooperate but to no avail.

The Cheshire cat reappeared, slowly sprinkling the petals about the guards, prancing madly about them without fear of being seen, even risking sticking a few of the petals in their clenched hands. Very pleased with himself, the cat clapped his hands hurriedly before moving them to cover his widening grin. The cat then turned to look at them with a silly smile before disappearing, not to reappear again.

The Queen, in the mean time, shook her mallet violently, the unconscious birds head hanging limply and no longer stiff as needed.

"Cards!!" She shouted, sending them scurrying to attention. "Get me—." Her sentence was cut off by a huge gasp. She pointed her finger at the petals around the guards, her face instantly turning a dark shade of red. Her black hairs flared out as though threatened, her hold on the unconscious bird a struggle, as she tried not to ring its tiny neck.

She bristled even more when a guard finally noticed the petals around them, and tried desperately to hide them under his shoe. "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!" She boomed, pointing at the small group of cards. A swarm of other guards reacted to the command, dragging their comrades off to be beheaded.

The accused guards struggled, pushing and shoving their former comrades as they tried to escape. One card was fortunate enough to escape, fleeing into the group of cards that stood nearby. Chaos began as the guards looked for the fleeing card, lost among the many.

The cards ran in different direction, occasionally bumping into one another before regaining themselves to run into another guard. Roxas took the given opportunity and darted for Alice from the bush who precariously stood in the middle of the chaos. With all the agility he possessed, he ran into the fray, silently praying as he entered the madness.

"Blizzaga!!" He shouted as he skidded to a halt, swinging the newly summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion out in front of him, each swinging to point out in opposite directions. Few cards were affected, as most were darting about madly and able to avoid the spell.

He growled to himself, mentally chastising himself as he moved to run deeper into the crowd, dismissing the keyblades when a card sideswiped him sending him to the ground tumbling a few times before resting on his side. The ground below him shuddered violently as the Queen stormed about, shouting out orders as the cards ran around. The feet of the guards became too close for comfort as he tried desperately to avoid being crushed. He could vaguely hear both Donald and Goofy shouting directions, and along with some encouraging and not so encouraging words.

As quickly as he could muster, he pushed himself to his feet, dodging the cards as they rushed by him, none giving him a second glance as they searched for the doomed guard.

Finally, he saw a flash of gold and blue among the white, black, and red the cards produced. She was just ahead of him, facing the opposite direction. With a few more giant running strides, he was right next to her. Skidding to a halt, he gently grasped her right hand that hung at her side, pivoting on his heels to face the direction he came in.

He could hear her gasp loudly at the sudden contact, but she did not panic, just allowed him to tug her along their weaving route to safety. He tugged her closer, swinging her in front of him occasionally as the cards came too closer for comfort, trying his best to take all the blows that were meant for her before rushing back out in front.

He could feel her intensely stare at the back of his head, trying to say something to the person yanking her in an unknown direction.

"Sora?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but the Queen's hollering prevented him from doing that. Gasping for breath, he sprinted with Alice in tow to the safety of the bush he just crawled out from.

He kneeled before her, tugging her hand to motion to enter the bush. She glanced at him questioningly but entered as directed. He stared out at the mass of cards running about, making sure it was safe before glancing back to make sure Alice was in the bush before slowly making his way in. Immediately, he was in a bear hug. Shocked, he glanced down at the girl who had her arms firmly around his waist, her head buried into the crook of his neck.

"Uh…" Was all he managed as she nuzzled closer. "Oh Sora! I've missed you. You never did come to visit as you promised." She whispered into his neck. An awkward silence followed as she pulled away, turning to encase both Donald and Goofy in a similar hug. Goofy humbly accepted the hug while Donald struggled, his feet and arms flaying about.

"Let me go!" He shouted, fearing for all that he was what Daisy would do to him if he were caught hugging another woman.

Almost reluctantly, Alice relinquished the hug. "It is good to see you three." Donald looked over to Roxas, who had his head down, his hair masking his face from view.

"Sora?" Inwardly, Roxas flinched, but he sucked it up and glanced up at Alice. He took in a deep breath. He could already see her confusion.

"I'm not Sora. I'm Roxas." Forcing himself, he stuck out his hand, awaiting a handshake in return. Hesitating, Alice glanced back at Donald and Goofy, looking at them for reassurance. The two nodded, and she smiled, turning to grasp the outstretched hand.

"How do you do Roxas? My name is Alice." She released his hand, moving to her knees to do a partial courtesy.

"So, what brings you three back here?" Donald glanced at Roxas, motioning for the scroll.

"Oh. Right." Roxas snapped, fumbling through his pockets to find the scroll. "Here it is." He held out the scroll to Alice, casting a glance back at the chaos just subsiding outside their makeshift head quarters.

"What is this?" She asked, raising a delicate brow. Her face became serious as she examined the piece of heavy paper she held.

"Well, read it." Donald encouraged, crawling over to where Roxas sat. She glanced up at the three, eyeing them carefully before opening the scroll, letting the paper unravel itself.

She silently read, gasping loudly. Her pale hand flew up to cover her mouth as she read on, tears slowly flowing down her face from tear-filled eyes.

Shoving Roxas closer, Donald motion for him to comfort her. Unsure of what to do, Roxas slowly crawled over to her. He rested by her side before turning to look back at Donald for more instructions. Donald rolled his eyes, moving to sit beside Goofy and taking the knight into a vicious hug.

"Gawsh Donald, I didn't know you wanted a hug. Why didn't you say so?" Goofy eagerly returned the hug, embracing the wizard tightly.

"Goofy! Let me go!" Goofy glanced down at the wizard he held onto, brows furring in confusion.

"But Donald, you hugged me!" Roxas turned back to Alice, slowly scooting closer to her.

"Uh…" He began before she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him tightly. Her sobs were slightly muffled by his vest, but the shaking was violent.

"Don't worry. We're here to ask you for help so we can get him back." He whispered to her, glancing back at Donald and Goofy who were busy fighting about the hug.

She sniffled slightly, pulling away from Roxas to dry her eyes with the white of her apron. She blew into the white cloth, looking up at Roxas with determined eyes.

"Well, let's get going. I do wish to help." She spoke, blue eyes glinting from her tears.

"Alright!" Donald shouted, pulling away from Goofy finally. "Let's get going!"

One by one, they crawled out of the bushes, careful as not to be spotted by the now vigilant guards. Staying behind the small group, Roxas made sure that they were indeed safe to exit the area.

The group slowly made their way back into the forest, avoiding the path that got them lost in the first place and managing to escape the clearing without being spotted.

"Truly remarkable." Was all Alice managed to say as they closed in to where the Gummi ship was parked. Donald puffed out his chest, taking Alice on a tour along the ship, leaving Goofy and Roxas to prepare the ship on their own.

"To the castle, right?" Goofy asked, looking up from the map on the console.

Roxas nodded, plopping down on the pilot's seat with a heavy sigh. "One down…" He said aloud as the ship shuddered to life. Taking the steering column, Roxas closed the ships plank, and blasted the engines.

Tilting the column back towards him, the nose lifted from the ground and toward the sky. With little noise, the ship lifted fully from the ground before taking to the sky.

In an instant, the ship blasted into space, heading towards the castle.

* * *

I just loved doing this chapter!!! I just kept adding to it and adding so it kinda exploded a bit. Just a wee bit….Keep those reviews coming in!! I am at a dead end with the next chapter, and I'm trying to bust through it. Thanks!!


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters…and that makes me sad…

**Author's Note:** Oh geez….its been a while. But honestly, I've been stumped on the chapter that was _**supposed**_ to be next. Yep. Just like a stump on the ground, can't grow…so I figured I'll just skip it for the time being. You guys can wait for more Riku and the King's adventures, right? But I just can't seem to get going on it….blah….that sucks. No matter how long I stare at it and command it to cooperate…it won't. **_But _**I have been working on the story, so it can't be blamed. I guess it's just apart of the process. But thanks to all you have reviewed, you guys know who you are. 30 Reviews!!! Who would have thought? Yell at me, prod me, I need a good shove to get the creativity going again. But, this is all your going to get for now. Yep. Enjoy!!!! And review!!!

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**Unforeseen**

**Somewhere within Disney Castle:**

"C'mon Alice! He has to come with us." Goofy pried on Roxas, voices and grunts echoing along the hall the three stood in. Roxas hung his head, allowing the two to tug and pull at him without giving so much as a fight in return. The knight braced himself, shoes digging into the carpeting as he fought off Alice, nearly succeeding in prying the nobody from the death grip Alice had on him.

Passerby's looked at the scene with upturned noses or a small smile of amusement as the blond little girl did not relent her hold on her newly acquired prize. Alice peeked around Roxas, smiling childishly before obliging the Knight with a slight pout, releasing Roxas' forearm and a portion of his wrinkled vest.

"Oh all right." Roxas felt himself blush, growing hot as Alice entwined their hands instead, pulling him along after her as Goofy turned with a smile to lead the way through the hallways to the library room where the Queen waited.

They were given specific orders to escort each princess to meet the Queen. _All _three of them…the Knight, the other half of the Keyblade's chosen one….and where was the Wizard? Gone. Slipped off somewhere as soon as the ship had touched down.

Kairi's ears perked upon hearing the commotion just outside her doorway. Quietly, she left her comfortable seat on Sora's bedside and walked to the door, opening it carefully just in time to see Roxas and Goofy walk by, a blond girl hanging desperately onto the nobodies arm.

Rage…instantiations rage….but it wasn't her rage. Kairi managed to smile as she felt a sudden surge to go up and smack that girl, but refrained from doing so.

Namine was fuming within Kairi as she overlooked the scene. Kairi shook her head, her smile not fading as she continued to view the scene from behind the massive door.

Sneaking out, she quietly slinked up behind the three, tip-toeing until she was within an arms distance. She drew closer to them, reaching over to grasp Roxas' left hand in her own. As soon as she had his hand within hers, she stopped walking, causing Roxas to come to a sudden halt. Startled, Roxas turned his head to stare at her with confusion. That look instantly vanished, turning into a look of gratitude as he allowed her to pull him in her direction and away from Alice.

Alice turned her head also, frowning slightly at the disruption, her hand still locked with Roxas' as she was also tugged in Kairi's direction. Sighing, Roxas relaxed when the knight finally spoke up.

"C'mon Alice. The Queen will like to meet ya." Alice looked up at Roxas before looking back at Goofy. Her face fell, disheartened by the formal arrangements.

"If I must…" She trailed off with a sigh, reluctantly letting Roxas go in the process. She stared up at the nobody a bit longer, a playful smile on her pink lips as she turned on the balls of her feet, skipping slightly to catch up with the Knight as he led the way to the Queen.

'That tramp.' Kairi frowned at Namine, mentally scolding her.

"Is this Queen going to try and chop off my head also?" She heard Alice question, earning an infamous Goofy chuckle.

Kairi broke into a smile, giggling as she tugged Roxas into motion, leading him into the room where she and Sora stayed.

"Thanks. I owe you one." Roxas finally spoke, his free right hand coming up to scratch the back of his head shyly. Kairi simply smiled as she shut the door, releasing his hand in the process. "Don't thank me. Namine _insisted_ I do it. You looked like you needed a rescue anyway." Roxas nervously ran a hand through his hair as Kairi turned to face him, smiling sweetly.

"Ya…" Roxas trailed off, hand dropping from his hair as he spotted Sora's still body. His eyes lingered on his other before meeting Kairi's eyes.

"How's he doing?" He questioned, finally getting an update on his well-being.

Kairi paused, momentarily caught by the question before allowing herself to move to stand just in front of the bed that Sora occupied. "He's stable. He won't respond to anything though…" Her voice broke off into a whisper, turning her head slightly to look back at Roxas.

Meeting her gaze temporarily, Roxas slowly walked over to where Kairi stood and stared at the pale body of his other. "He'll get better." He whispered aloud, more to himself than to Kairi.

"I know." Kairi responded, flashing a hopeful smile up at him. Roxas turned his head slightly to look at Kairi, smiling slightly despite the circumstances. He could clearly see Namine frowning at him, the expression unfamiliar as he had never seen her so unhappy.

Huffing loudly and rather dramatically, she turned her head to glance at the opposite direction in an obvious jester of anger. Closing his eyes, Roxas took in a deep breath before reopening them, newly found courage gathering up within him. With new found confidence, he moved to stand closer to Kairi's nobody, chuckling uncomfortably to try and lighten her mood, a hand reaching up to touch her left forearm to gain her attention.

"Don't be mad at me Namine." She spun around to face him blond hair flying about at her sudden movement. Instantly, he retracted his hand as if burned, watching her carefully. Her blue eyes were burning with rage. Feeling even more uncomfortable, Roxas found himself stepping away from her, right hand moving to run through his blond spikes out of humility.

After a few moments of utter silence, Roxas slowly grew bold, seeing as she did not charge at him. Slowly, he closed the gap he made between them, a shaky left hand flying up to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear, his palm resting lightly on her face. Her eyes softened slightly; almost reluctantly she leaned into his palm, sighing in content.

Licking his lips nervously, Roxas felt his eyes slowly begin to close, becoming heavy as he leaned forward closer to the face he held within his palm. The hand that cupped her cheek drew her closer until his lips made contact with hers…ignoring the image that faded into her other.

Her eyes widened as their lips made contact, freezing as the lips pressing upon hers began to move slowly, tentatively.

She hesitated, hands flying up to rest on his chest, struggling to decide what to do before responding to his actions. Her hands entwined themselves in the folds of his vest, pulling Roxas closer till they were almost flushed against one another. After a short moment, Roxas slowly pulled back, eyes slowly opening to stare into Kairi's eyes. Her grasp on his vest undid itself, her hands falling to her side with heaviness she never felt before.

In a numb state, both became aware what he had done…what she had done.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, turning to run out of the room, leaving a stunned Kairi behind.

Touching her lips lightly with shaky fingers, she glanced down at Sora.

* * *

He rushed out of the room, closing the door slowly behind him before leaning back against it, eyes drawn to the red carpet below his feet. He could feel a rage beginning to brew within him, much to the same extent when he fought Sora…but more rage….much, much more rage.

The words of the Cheshire cat filtered back into his head.

"**_You're not him."_** Reflexively, he felt his hands clench into fists, body going rigid.

"**_What happened to him?" _**Vaguely, he could feel his own fingernails digging into the delicate skin of his palms.

"What are you talking about?" Roxas whispered out loud, relaxing his balled up fists.

"**_The one that you are replacing?"_** That damn cat…must have given him that bruise too. Slowly, he reached up to touch the still tender area with the tips of his fingers. Tired, he dropped his hand, continuing to stare at the floor before him.

He could vaguely hear footsteps approaching him, the sound reverberating through the empty hall. A shadow slowly fell over to where he was staring at in the form of a dog like creature.

"Well hey their Roxas. What cha doing?" Goofy questioned, leaning down to try to capture the nobody's attention. Roxas shook his head slightly, pulling himself from the door to walk in the direction of the Gummi dock. Goofy chuckled loudly while walking after the nobody till he was a few feet away from him.

"How is Sor—." Goofy's sentence was cut off by a cry of rage from Roxas, who spun around to point Oblivion threateningly at the Knight with the deadly tip tickling the Knight's throat.

Shocked, Goofy just stared at the enraged form, eyes blinking dumbly at the object pointed at him. He didn't summon his Save the King in defense, just stared at Roxas with confusion. He met crystal blue eyes filled with rage with his own perplexed onyx eyes.

"Roxas…" He began, using a reassuring tone. Roxas' eyes flickered slightly as he dropped the weapon, eyes narrowing dangerously from under blond bangs. Instantly, Oblivion began to dissolve before disappearing entirely from his grasp. Roxas slowly backed away from Goofy, eyes still trained on the knights.

"Let's go." And with that, Roxas began walking away, body ridged with pent up emotions.

"Already? But we just barely got here!" Goofy argued unfazed despite the close call. Roxas stopped walking to look at the Knight from over his shoulder, frowning deeply with eyes still narrowed.

"Let's go." He repeated, voice tainted with withheld anger before continuing on his way, disappearing around the bend in the hallway in a flash.

Goofy sighed, glancing at the door Roxas just came out from before walking off to go find Donald.

* * *

Donald couldn't quite put his finger on it, but things were different. The ship was filled with a thickness of insecurity, which made him even more irritated than usual. What made him even _more_ irritated was the fact that they were already leaving when they just arrived not more than an hour ago. 

He huffed angrily, glaring at the two silent figures at their given seats.

"What's wrong with you two?" He asked, eyes flaming even more when the two failed to respond.

Frustrated, he gave out a loud quack of some sorts, earning a look from Roxas who did nothing more than stare at the flustered duck, eyebrow quirked.

"Engines are ready Roxas." Goofy spoke up, some what quieted and not his usual happy self.

Roxas merely nodded as Chip and Dale continued to scold them through out the intercom system.

"Oh be quiet!!" Donald shouted back into the microphone, hearing the two give startled gasps before becoming quiet.

"Well? Where we headed?" Donald asked, pulling himself to rest comfortably in his seat, arms folded to rest on his lap.

Roxas glanced back in his direction before sluggishly reaching into his pocket. After a moment, he stopped searching and pulled out a scroll. Through half-lidded eyes, he glanced at it before tossing it to Donald, turning his attention back to his duties.

Donald yelped in surprise, jumping up and out of his seat to catch the object. He muttered angrily to himself, glaring hatefully at the back of Roxas' head before glancing at the paper he held.

"Oh."

Goofy glanced at him curiously, motioning for the scroll. Donald sighed, tossing the paper at the Knight before reaching over to arm the missiles. Goofy chuckled loudly, stuffing the scroll into his pant pocket.

"Ready?" Roxas asked, his voice dry.

Donald and Goofy glanced at one another, shrugging before nodding. Roxas glanced back at the two, eyebrow raised…he didn't hear their nods.

"Yes." Both responded.

Exhaling, Roxas reached for the control column as the ship was readied.

* * *

**Minuets later:**

"Hurry up Donald!" Donald quacked angrily as he swung around the gummi's guns, looking every bit possessed and crazed as one could get. The guns gave off a brilliant glow of orange as round after round left their barrel, some rounds even landed on a target or two.

"What's happening to the shields?!" Roxas shouted over Donald's maniac-like hollering, glancing back to Goofy, who scratched his head in response as he stared at the panel before him. "Uh…I think they're goin' down." He replied, smiling up at Roxas.

Roxas cried out in frustration as he swung the control stick violently to the left. The two other figures in the Gummi ship gave off startled yelps as the ship turned immediately, avoiding the missiles heading for it.

"We told you guys to bring it back in one piece!" Shouted Dale over the intercom. "Oh shut up!" Roxas shouted back in response, smashing his fist into the intercom button, earning a loud screech from the system in return.

Warning buzzers were ringing loudly, a red light blinking madly as missile after missile were launched at them.

No breaks…no breaks what so ever, Roxas thought to himself.

Another violent tug to the control stick sent the Gummi Ship barrel rolling. Roxas fought off a smile of amusement as Donald and Goofy wailed loudly, clinging to their seats, as they did not have their restraining belts on.

"Put on your belts!!" He ordered after correcting the ship, but the order went unheard as the ship suddenly shuddered when a missile impacted the left wing, tearing it off from where it was welded.

"Crap." Was all Roxas managed to say as the warning buzzers, if possible, shrieked even louder. The ship was leaning heavily to the left as it sailed under the power of the remaining two engines from the rear of the ship and from the right wing. A dark orange glow enveloped the view from the cockpit as the ship began to enter the world's atmosphere.

"Well…we're here." Goofy spoke over the ringing, pointing to the barren land in front of them.

The smell of fire was evident in the air they were breathing, another orange glow showing from within, the obvious signs of fire creeping from behind. "What do we do?!" Donald asked, panicked as a well-aimed missile stripped off the last of their laser gummi blocks.

Roxas gritted his teeth as the engines of the ship began to sputter, shuttering violently as one by one they failed.

The ship still coasted through the atmosphere, the nose of the ship pointing dangerously low as the pull of the world dragged them faster through the sky. Glancing at the flickering monitor, Goofy sighed as the enemy gummi ships stayed a safe distance away from the worlds pull.

"They're not following us." He reported, earning a sigh from Donald who flopped in his seat. Roxas bit his bottom lip, shoes digging into the metal paneling underneath him as he struggled to hang on to the ships steering. The ship desperately wanted to roll over. With his desperate hold, the ship was at a heavy lean, exposing what remained of the left side of the ship to the brute force of the atmosphere.

Glancing back at Donald, he began to bark orders when all became quiet. The sirens fell upon deaf ears as another missile, this time aimed for the hull of the ship, ripped the gummi in half.

The loud screech of metal meeting metal filled the air as the missile sliced through the ship before exploding, separating the body of the ship from the cockpit. The small cockpit area was sent into a violent spin with debris constantly pouring out of it as it quickly made its way to the ground below.

Roxas gritted his teeth at the g-forces they were put under, his body smashing into the seat he was sitting in with such a force. Letting go of the steering column, he gripped the seat just as another missile impacted the loose cockpit. The small piece of protection they had was instantly incinerated, shattering into jagged pieces. Over the loud explosion, he could hear both Donald and Goofy crying out as they were ripped out of their seats and sent into the air.

His seat was now free from the gummi's flooring also, tumbling through the air among the other pieces of debris and shrapnel.

Looking frantically at his surroundings, he could see Donald and Goofy just above him in the field of debris. Fighting the power of the wind, he reached over to unbuckle his belt. The wind stung at his face, whipping his hair into his eyes and making his loose clothing bite at his skin. With numb fingers, he finally managed to release the belt, instantly, he was sent into the air with a violent tug from the air.

The main body of the gummi ship barreled by him, pouring out smoke and spiraling out of control as it hurtled to the desert planet below.

Both sharp and dull objects flew by with deadly speed, grazing soft skin and tearing it open. Shifting, he looked up to see Donald and Goofy fighting to stay together in the massive debris field in the air. Spreading his arms and legs out, he slowed his decent somewhat against the howl of the wind, his loose clothing forming a small brake against the wind. Roxas waited for the right moment, until both Donald and Goofy were within a close enough distance of him before summoning both his keyblades.

"Reflega!" He shouted. A small sphere just big enough to contain the three enveloped them, halting them abruptly and shielding them from the endless amount of debris. An ear-piercing whistle surrounded the sphere as the wind rushed by as they slowly drifted downwards. Roxas gritted his teeth, criss-crossing the two blades out in front of him as he fought to keep the spell active…he never had a chance to with hold a spell before and deeply regretted not trying it…his magic was going fast.

After what seemed like hours, the small sphere cleared the cover the clouds produced, making good time on its decent towards the ground.

Roxas leaned forward, Keyblades pressing to his chest while his forehead rested on the shield he was creating. Through heavy eyes, he watched as the clouds and endless blue sky flew by them. "You okay Roxas?" Goofy asked, a comforting hand reaching out to grasp his left shoulder. Roxas slowly shook his head, blond hair scrapping against the shield as he looked over his shoulder, smiling a tired smile.

"I can't hold this much longer." He whispered, smile dropping as his arms now started to violently shake. Donald stared at the two before digging in his vest.

"My last one." With that said, he threw up the last Elixir he had. They didn't, after all, have much time at the castle to do much else than walk from the Gummi then back to the Gummi. Most of their supplies _were _on the ship. Roxas instantly felt the effects of the potion. His shaking stopped and he felt strong enough to pull away from the magical barrier.

"It won't last long." He spoke, looking back at Donald.

Donald bristled at the comment. "Amateurs." He rolled up his elbow length sleeves and cracked his finger before moving forward to shove Roxas out of the way.

"Hey!" Roxas shouted as the Keyblades shifted, the shield around them disappearing.

"Donald!!" Goofy yelled out as the wind rushed at the three once again. Risking a glance down, Donald gulped, as through the sting of the air, the sandy ground was getting uncomfortably closer and closer. Clenching his eyes shut, Roxas braced for impact, holding his keyblades close to his body. The loud yells of Donald and Goofy the last thing he heard before feeling a terrible burning sensation in his right shoulder before everything went black.

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A/N: Don't shoot! I know, another Gummi crash, but honestly, I'm just staying true to the game. Ha! Or maybe it's just me, but I crashed **_every time_** I was going to a new world. Shot down with ease. I was too lazy to update my Gummi so I would take the newest one I would come by and head off….and then be shot down. I was just trying to finish the game, and within a week and a half, I did it!!! It was just a pain to go to a new world….And the whole Roxas/Kairi thingy…that just popped into my mind. But it was all accidental…..it wasn't like he meant to kiss Kairi or that Kairi wanted to kiss Roxas…..it was just one of those things that popped into my head.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters…and that makes me sad…

**Author's Note:** I honestly had to tie myself up and force myself to finish this chapter up. And I'll tell you something, it was a doozey. You'll see why when you read on. I apologize for taking forever, but this really needed to be looked over a crap load of times. I mean, it had a lot of parts that screamed for attention and I was torn between all of them. I'm not completely happy with this one at all, I mean, I don't think I'll ever be happy with it, but eh, what can I do? Well, sorry for the extended wait. Don't chew me out in the reviews, I had good intentions!! But that doesn't mean don't review! **REVIEW**!! Thanks.

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**Unforeseen**

It was shortly after the small celebration that they left, well fed and well informed. But something still irked Riku. Surely Snow White's so-called Prince Charming could have taken care of this problem. Weren't stories like these supposed to have happy endings? He must have muttered that aloud, since the King had responded with, "Every one needs a little help with their stories once and a while." The King had reminded him much to his surprise, humming softly to himself the tune the Dwarf's had filled his head with.

From what he recalled, it was just after sundown that they departed, and staring up at the sky that was partially hidden by the dead trees, it was confirmed that this indeed was taking a little too long.

Shaking his head, he simply followed the King, who seemed to know exactly where to go. Not once had the King glanced at the crudely drawn map given to them by the Dwarf's. "Do you visit all the worlds?" The King stopped his humming and became silent, lips pursed together. "Welp, Queen Minnie encourages it. She does have a point though," The mouse king smiled over at Riku, shrugging sheepishly. "She feels it's nice to have alliances, and…I can't really argue with her." He confessed, breaking eye contact with Riku once the other began to form a smirk

A strong feeling swept over Riku, causing him to drop his smirk and shift around uneasily. Alert eyes lifted away from the king, now drawn to their surroundings as the feeling of agitation slowly set in. "Can you feel that?" Riku asked aloud suddenly, abruptly stopping in his tracks, eyes warily starring at the forest around them with apprehension.

"Feel what?" The King asked his traveling companion, stopping to look at Riku, all the while holding up the torch that illuminated their path. Riku fought off the urge to smile as he caught the sight of the Kings' massive ears twitching to life in the search for any sounds. And here he thought they were only for decorative purposes--

"The stares." Riku filled in, seeing the King's blank look. The King parted his mouth, forming an 'O' with eyes examining the dense forest as Riku was doing. He turned partially to look at Riku, eyes turned up to meet his gaze.

"I don't feel anything. Don't worry Riku," The King tip-toed to pat Riku on the back, as if to comfort him before drawing away. "There's nothing to be afraid of. Its nothing we can't handle." He reassured, winking lightheartedly while giving the boy a thumbs up, laughing. Riku huffed, causing his bangs to flutter slightly; he wasn't scared, just a bit edgy. The forest was giving off an eerie sensation…and that sensation only intensified at night.

As if on cue, the two began to walk again without any verbal acknowledgement to do so. The animals that _had_ escorted them from the dwarf's cottage were now gone, choosing to stay behind in a safe area. The torchlight they were given by the dwarf's formed shadows and illuminated the dead trees surrounding the path, giving off the illusion that the dead foliage was alive and breathing.

Under the silence, the twigs and leaves they walked over snapped loudly from their weight as they ventured over the neglected trail overgrown with thick vines and thorns that leapt at every chance to snare any fabric that brushed by. From what they were told, few people were brave enough to travel through this area anymore. Those who did venture into the trail came back changed, their attitudes altered into darker beings and their cheerful disposition forever tainted. Many villagers opted to take the longer roads running around the forest, adding several days travel to and from the castle rather than take a chance through the fabled haunted woods.

The sudden sound of a tree branch snapping within the thick grove of trees stopped the two heroes. After a moment of silence, the King laughed uneasily, looking about as he tried his best to illuminate every space with the light of the torch.

It was a classic story line, Riku thought as they moved on. The road was overgrown with weeds and roots of trees, between the rocks on the trail lay hidden pools of water that soaked into their shoes. Thos same rocks hindered their path at every turn on the seldom-used road. The trees seemed to grow inward on the small path, suffocating them; their trunks leaning into the vicinity with their branches hanging lower than in other parts of the dense woods. That is why he gave the King the torch; he would instantly send the woods ablaze. He had a hard enough time walking around under the looming branches, and did not want the added thrill of fire to be a bonus to their side journey.

But it would certainly solve their problem of the haunted woods, he thought with a dark smile. "Ow." He was quickly brought out of his thoughts by a branch to his forehead. With a hand to his stinging skin, he found himself looking at the branch that dropped out of nowhere.

"C'mon Riku." The King's words snapped him into motion, following the smaller figure through the dark. Chewing his bottom lip fitfully, he found himself starring at the dancing flames atop of the burning stick. Riku, with as much self control as possible, willed himself not to grab the torch dangling almost teasingly in front of him. Despite it being safer in the King's hands, the light was only illuminating about four feet and down because of the Kings lack in height.

A sudden howling wind blew past caring dead leaves nearly sent them tumbling onto the rocky road. Gaining his footing, Riku glanced around at their quieted surroundings. Snow White had mentioned strange occurrences happening at a point in the road where the road would end as well as the woods. The clearing would lead up a steep, rocky embankment, either side guarded by solid walls of rock to where her step-mother lost her life.

"Welp, I think we're getting close." The king spoke as he walked; scaling a rock that Riku simply stepped over.

Finally, the woods seemed to relent. The trees were more spaced out, stopping at a point along the path all together, revealing the way to a rocky cliff that seemed highly unstable and visibly unsuitable to support the slightest weight.

Done by nature, or by human design, it was unclear, but the way up the flattened portion of the cliff was up a rocky path, no wider than about half the length of a football field, awfully spacey when you thought about it with two solid portions of the cliff faces along either side, stretching as far up as several feet above the two in some given areas, forming a funnel of sorts, leading up to the top.

Far above them, stood a looming mountain that blended easily into the dark of the night, the moon escaping the grasp of heavy cloud cover to illuminate its form long enough to be seen.

The two stopped their journey, and stared up at the top of the rocky slope that eventually would lead them to the cliff's peak. Peaking through the breaks in his hair, Riku assessed what needed to be done.

"So…now what?" He questioned the King after coming up with nothing, bare arms folding to cross in front of his chest. The chill of the night air was finally getting to him now that they weren't covered by the heavy tree cover.

Folding his right hand to lay under his chin, the King looked up thoughtfully at their problem. His small body stiffened, every muscle tense as his massive ears twitched. Riku gave the King a side-glance, watching him, but not speaking. He was with the King long enough to know when to let him do his Kingly things.

The King made a motion to be quiet, a finger raised to his lips with his face drawn into a look of pure concentration. After a moment of listening, the King looked up to Riku, jerking his head over his shoulder, motioning to the rocky face off to their left. Leading by example, he quickly slid into place, body flushed against the side of the mountain, the flames of the torch licking the rocks with every flicker.

Obeying, Riku followed suite, sliding into place along side the King without questioning him. Chills rushed up the pairs bodies as a rouge burst of wind rushed by them feeling as cold as ice. Against the howl of the wind, faint voices, both women, could be made out echoing across the open area. Nothing really could be made out except for the eerie cackle or sinister laugh. One laugh in particular struck Riku cold.

'Maleficent…' The King looked up at him, as if reading his thoughts to nod his head, gloved right hand outstretched slightly to catch his keyblade within his open palm. The glow of the blade alone lit the dark area with its pure light much more than the torch had.

The voices stopped abruptly, as if they saw the burst of light. Gritting his teeth together, Riku resisted the urge to summon his own keyblade, fingers flexing in anticipation. For a few tense moments, the voices were not heard again. Breathing a sigh of relief, the King bent down to place the torch down and to grasp the blade firmly with both hands. The King gave a nod to summon his weapon, which Riku did eagerly, summoning Way to the Dawn with enthusiasm.

The voices didn't stop this time.

Riku shivered unexpectedly as a cold, wet drop connected with the skin of his exposed left arm. Lifting his arm closer to his face, he could see where the droplet made contact, the liquid shimmering from the glow of the torch currently discarded. Tentatively, he held out his right palm, feeling several more drops come into contact.

"Great." He mumbled to himself as the drops became more frequent and heavier. It was now raining. The slopping cliff face before them slowly filled with water no more than inches deep, slowly cascading down off the rocks and boulders, the massive walls of solid rocks around them funneling the water down and around them.

Peeling himself from one of the cliff's stable walls, the King moved closer to the unstable mass of rocks that led upwards. On his tiptoes, he tried to see over the top, which was undoable even for Riku, who did have the gift of height.

A big tremor rocked the area, sending the two stumbling off balance as a sudden blur of black landed before the King, sending rocks of all shapes rolling down at the two. Riku rolled out of the way, dodging a massive bolder that slid out of control down the terrain, taking several more rocks down with it. Aqua eyes widened slightly as he took in their enemy, gripping Way to the Dawn firmly as he stood.

The dragon before them extended its enormous black wings, rain trickling off the thin webbing with its thick tail withering behind it with deadly intent. Maleficent drew in her head to her, neck curving with mouth agape, showing off perfectly sharpened white fangs through her parted jaws. Even from that awkward angel, the dragon seemed right at home on the 30 degree banked rock face, its massive body barely fitting within the confines of the two opposing slopes around her.

The dragon stomped violently with its left foreleg, sending rock tumbling while releasing a hiss. For its size, the dragon was truly agile, swinging its body slightly towards the two warriors, Maleficent sent her tail flying out from behind her. The thick appendage dragged along the side of the mountain, carving out a thick lining as it went before thrashing suddenly backwards, creating cracks and large crevices that stretched up to the top several feet above the fight. The dragon dug its claws into the breaks of the slope, releasing a roar that reverberated around the two below her in a show of power.

Glancing at one another, the two exchanged smirks before charging at the dragon, each sprinting in opposite directions. Ducking around snapping jaws, the Keyblades made contact with the dragon's scaly hide, barely doing more than enraging the beast.

Muscles extended and contracted on the mighty dragon as she suddenly reared, causing the two below her to retreat. The dragon's massive shadow enveloped them as she towered over the two fighters, the rain glistening over her black scales. The ground shook violently when Maleficent came crashing back down on the ground, sending a huge tremor towards Riku and the King. The dragon then inhaled sharply, head swinging to the side violently before whipping around again, sending the two scattering as a burst of green flames spewed over the battle area. The flames instantly turned into steam as it made contact with the rain that kept falling, creating a veil of as the elements battled one another.

Riku dodged rolled to safety as did the King, neither skipping a beat as they charged through the heavy steam back at the Dragon.

On the slippery rock face, the dragon's hind legs dug into the breaks within and let out another piercing roar, the remnants of smoke swirling through the curtain of rain from her jaws and flaring nostrils. Through his soggy bangs, Riku looked over the powerful foe as he skidded to a halt. At that moment, the dragon lifted her head and roared. Around Maleficent formed green balls of flames that did little more than float in place, seemingly harmless.

Ignoring the balls, the two warriors sprung into action, sprinting around the idle flames and closer to the dragon. As they stepped within range, the flames darted out at them, chasing them with eagerness to burn, catching either fighter in the back or chest leaving scorch marks on their clothes. The dragon's emerald eyes glimmered in the night as they slowly focused on Riku as he recovered from the volley of flames. The corners of the Dragons lips seemed to turn up in a smirk. Out of the corner of his eye, a blur of black rushed towards him. Unable to react in time, Riku could only bring Way to the Dawn to his defense, the Keyblade doing little as he felt all the air leave his lungs in a rush as the dragon's tail swung around in his direction, making direct contact with his unprotected midsection. The force of the attack alone sent him flying clear across the area into the opposite slope of the mountain.

Maleficent turned her head in search of the King, feeling confident of her disposal of the other. Shimmering eyes narrowed slightly as she caught sight of the King already in action, Keyblade poised and ready to strike at his side. Slightly amused at how much smaller he seemed, Maleficent watched as step by charging step he drew closer to her, perfectly within range. As she predicted, the King jumped up, propelling himself upward through the rain at her exposed neck. If she could laugh, she would have. Inhaling, she allowed her jaws to fully open, allowing full view of the destruction to come. In the blink of an eye, a massive green ball of flames grew in her mouth. Mickey's eyes widened as the dragon released its blast, the resulting launch of the flames caused Maleficent's head to recoil slightly. Bringing his keyblade up in front of him, he shielded himself the best he could but the explosion of the blast sent him flying across the terrain.

Through the thick veil of steam that was brewing around, Maleficent watched as the smoldering figure landed, bouncing a few times before coming to a halt along the side of a large singed bolder; unmoving.

Fully recovered, Riku shook off the tingling affects of the potion he applied to himself, rushing towards the distracted dragon. With leaps and bounds, Riku found himself under the dragons looming shadow. Still unaware of his recovery, Riku took the opportunity, launching into the air to land on Maleficent's slippery back. His left hand flew out to grasp on to one of the spikes that drew out of Maleficent's back just behind her wings to steady himself.

Suddenly aware of Riku's movements, Maleficent swung her head around trying to locate the object currently crawling over her. Avoiding her violently flapping wings, Riku let out a grunt as he drew back Way to the dawn at shoulder level before bringing the sharp blade down to pierce into her back, allowing the whole blade to disappear into her body with the hilt protruding.

The pained roar that followed echoed throughout the cliff's walls. The beast arched its back, head whipping around at bone crushing speed. Riku held back a cry of pain, forcing the sound back as Maleficent's head struck him, dislodging the keyblade imbedded in her back in the same motion. Panicking, Riku clung frantically to the dragon's rugged face, fingers digging into scales as he desperately tried to avoid the snapping jaws as she tried to maneuver him into her awaiting mouth. With his right hand, Riku drew up his blade and began to strike repeatedly, his left fingers slipping as he did so.

Having enough, Maleficent released a very audible hiss before snapping her neck violently downward, aiming Riku towards the ground. Riku winced, crying out sharply as a blunt rock broke his fall, coming in contact with the small of his back. The sensation of being hit along his spine left him unable to move without feeling immense pain. His body was ridged, back arched over the rock from the sheer agony he was going through. The rain continued to pepper his face, pooling along his clenched eyelids as he fought the feelings overwhelming his senses.

The ground beneath him shook as the dragon slowly moved in towards him. Rolling slowly to his left and into the rising water, he could see where the King lay, unmoving and soaking from the water rolling around him. Breathing heavily, Riku shakily reached into his pocket, feeling around for any object he came across.

Nothing.

Forcing himself up, Riku found himself immediately rolling out of the way as Maleficent's snapping jaws came at him, grazing his vest as he avoided her repeated strikes. Shaking his head to get his bearings together, he noted that he was now next to the King. Riku fought the urge to jump as the King spoke up, voice tired.

"Welp," The dragon quickly drew closer, the ground shaking from her weight with each lumbering step. "Should we step things up?" Riku felt a tired smirk come to his beaten face as he watched the King slowly sit up. After taking a moment, the King reached into his pocket before pulling out a slightly larger green container and threw it into the air. The King smiled thankfully, sighing out loud as the Mega potion took affect, his right hand automatically reaching for his discarded blade with his gloved hands.

Riku stood, drawing his Keyblade up just at his height, taking his fighting pose along side the King as he stood. The keyblade wielder charged forward before launching himself into the air just before the dragon. Mickey ran towards Maleficent before skidding to a sudden halt, turning on a dime in the opposite direction, hoping to gain Maleficent's attention as he drew directly under her.

King Mickey found himself grinning as Maleficent's eyes slowly landed on him and away from Riku. With a sudden burst of speed, the King flung himself up into Maleficent's jaw as he drew under the massive beast. The sudden impact from the Kings' keyblade sent the dragons head snapping upward from the momentum.

As soon as the impact was made, the King let loose his Keyblade. The weapon sliced through the wall of rain falling, shimmering from the moon's light to the awaiting wielder waiting for it.

With ease, Riku caught the spinning blade in his left hand while gripping his own in his right. Using his upward momentum, Riku swung both keyblades up and over his head before sending them hurtling towards the occupied dragon. A piercing whistle was released from the two weapons as they ripped through the air. There was a moment of silence as each Keyblade sunk into Maleficent. The dragon flinched on impact, the tearing of flesh heard above the sound of the falling rain.

Riku grunted as he landed back on the rocky ground before jogging back to where the King stood, watching Maleficent as she withered around in agony, favoring her right foreleg. The rain seemed to let up some, the stinging, fat drops of rain melted into a veil of drizzle. Never before had either warrior's heard a sound so pained come from such a massive creature. Maleficent's head was turned to look at the points where each of the blades had dug themselves into her right side. Her mighty wings were now folded down, each lying limply along her body. From the dim lighting and through the sheet of rain, Riku could clearly see blood oozing from the wounds he had inflicted. With her head still turned, Maleficent strained her neck, teeth barred as she easily tore out a blade from her own flesh.

The nauseating sound of flesh being ripped open resounded through the narrow area. With the blade still in her mouth, the dragon bit down on it, sending the metal twisting and groaning. The King could only watch in shocked silence as his own blade was broken into pieces, the small remnants falling from her powerful jaws and onto the ground.

Turning her full attention to the other blade, she poised her fangs along her body to do the same to Riku's keyblade.

"Maleficent!" A voice shouted suddenly. Pulling himself from his stunned composer, the King turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder at the owner of the voice.

Pete slowly backtracked upon being spotted, but he quickly drew his resolve and looked past the two wielders at his boss.

"Maleficent!" He shouted again. The dragon turned its head to look at him, eyes narrowed with smoke billowing out from her jaws. Gulping, Pete spoke again. "We got it!"

Eyes widened at the news. Mickey turned sharply to face the dragon as she roared. The two keyblade wielders backpedaled when Maleficent reared up again, her head whipping around as a volley of green flames flew out over the area.

Startled, Pete opened up a portal hastily as the green flames fell over the area. "Get down!" Riku did as he was told, doing his best to press himself as much as possible to the ground as the scorching flames flew about them.

Riku gritted his teeth as a tendril of flame licked at his right forearm. For what seemed like an eternity, the two stayed glued to the ground as the flames passed over them.

The last of the flames flickered out, followed by silence. Hesitantly, Riku lifted his head from his arms to look around. The steam was intense, and the rocks they laid on were hot enough to scald. Also swirling in the air was a thicker cloud of smoke. Glancing over his shoulder, the King could see what was left of the trees behind them. A few stood ablaze but the closest ones to them were non existent. Quickly, Riku sat up, cradling his burnt arm before looking at the King who was in the same shape as he, badly scorched, clothes tattered and face smudged with ash.

Riku could feel the same with himself, his face feeling as though he had a thick layer of soot on it and above all, the smell of burnt hair. Damn.

Through the steam, a figure could be seen. But it was not that of the dragon. Maleficent stood in front of them, cane in her left arm as she leaned heavily upon it. Riku watched as his keyblade was thrown in front of him, scorched as well but still recognizable. The blade slowly began to disappear, as its use had been fulfilled.

Maleficent let out a small chuckle, face showing pain but not enough to erase the look of victory. "We shall finish this later." As she spoke, a black portal opened up behind her. Turning quickly, she retreated, releasing another laugh before disappearing.

"Now what?" He asked, turning to look at the King who stood over where his blade lay.

Riku found himself biting the inside of his lip as he watched the King slowly drop to his knees, tattered gloved hands reaching out to pick up the pieces of his weapon. He didn't know what to say…

"You Majesty….I'm sorry….I didn't…" The King cut him off with a motion of his hand, eyes still drawn to the remnants of his keyblade. His distant eyes scanned the ground before coming to a halt on a scorched object. Riku watched silently as the King slowly picked up the keychain that broke off his blade.

"Awww….Don't be sorry Riku…" The King spoke finally, head turned up to look at him with a smile against the dying rain. Standing up, the King sighed, shoulders slumped as he looked back down at his blade while stuffing the small chain into his pocket, leaving the broken blade lie where it fell.

"Don't feel bad. It'll be alright." Not entirely comforted by the King's words, Riku just nodded, staying silent. "Let's get going then…we've wasted enough time already."

With the rain ceasing to exist, the two wielders scaled up and over what remained of the slope. Even from the downpour and the water that currently cascaded over and through the gaps between the boulders; the rocks beneath their hands were still hot to the touch from the intense heat they had endured. Finally, the pair reached to top, panting and exhausted from the combined events of the battle and the fatigue of walking for hours.

Riku found himself frowning, seeing nothing more than a rocky clearing that stopped at the foot of another grove of trees. Walking forward, the King scanned the area, eyes focused and intent on finding their given target. "She should be here…" He grumbled after a long pause of silence. A glimmer of red caught the corner of his eye, gaining Riku's attention. Aqua eyes narrowed at the object. Out stretched towards their direction was a red apple, its skin glossy. A pale, skeletal hand held the treat out from underneath the shadows of the trees. Long, chipped nails caressed the skin of the apple as if enticing them to take the gift.

In a flash, Riku summoned his Keyblade, pulling the weapon to rest just above shoulder level. Finally noticing the figure hidden in the shadows of the trees, the King spun around in the direction Riku faced and threw up his keychain. His hands at the ready, the King caught his Keyblade. Feeling the familiar weight of his trusted blade, the King beamed at Riku's shocked expression.

"They'll never leave you. The Keyblade chooses its wielder for a reason, and even though its 'destroyed,' it will always come back until it feels it needs to find another master." Riku nodded mutely, eyeing the newly reconstructed keyblade with suspicion. Although he wanted to question the King more, his attention turned to the now cackling lady. With slow steps, she emerged from the darkness, wide eyes hollowed out. The sight was enough to make him gag. It looked as if her eyes had been gouged out, a few scraps of flesh hanging from the empty voids were scavengers bit into her flesh. Her body, although old in appearance, looked rejuvenated, not by appearance in any means, but by the flow of energy the two were receiving from her; a lot of energy.

Her long, white hairs were matted with what looked like decaying flesh, the hood over her head masking what probably was an exposed skull. Her mouth was parted, exposing broken teeth and what appeared to be the remnants of a tongue. Her enlarged nose was largely gone thanks to the process of decay, the only portion left of the body part was a flap of skin that started from the tip and ended at her forehead. The sight sent shivers running down the wielder's backs. With shaky movements, she walked forward, slightly hunched while motioning eagerly with her outstretched hand to take the apple.

Riku opened his mouth to ask the King when a shimmer flashed above them before cascading down to form a barrier, effectively keeping the two in and anyone else out. Snow White's step-mother released a low cackle before dropping the apple, her attention drawn to it as it rolled before it came to a sudden stop. A burst of green mist exploded from the discarded fruit, covering the area in its thick cloud. Coughing violently, Riku shifted, stepping back a few paces in the direction of the King.

"Riku! Watch out!" Riku spun around in time to swing Way to the Dawn up to deflect whatever was coming his way. A loud twang reverberated through the enclosed area, and briefly he wondered what he hit. A second later, something very hard slammed into his side, sending him into the barrier across the clearing. The magic crackled around his body at the moment of impact, leaving his senses disoriented. "Riku!" The humming in his ears slowly died down as the silver haired teen adjusted himself, forcing his body to move to his hands and knees. Dazed eyes flickered in the direction he came from. The area was still engulfed by the mist, but not enough now that it impaired their vision. The silver streaks of a keyblade told him the King was already working at solving their 'problem.' Shakily, he stood, grabbing his blade before charging back at the hidden form.

A new laughter filled the area along with the laughter of the step-mother, the sound foreign and filled with such darkness. Uncaring in the change in pitch, he swung at the figure, making contact with an arm held up in defense, hearing the cracking of bones as a result. A piercing scream caused him to back off slightly, his shaking hands flying up to cover his ears as they began to ring.

"Riku!" Over the ringing in his ears, he could hear the King shout his name and knew that tone in his voice. In a few giant strides, he stood by the King. "She has two forms." Taking in the step-mother more closely, she indeed was being shadowed by a younger, more beautiful counter-part.

On her head stood a magnificent crown peaked by a small pearl, she wore a black cape of some sorts that faded off into the darkness around her with a white collar framing her stoic face. Unlike her heartless, her face was unharmed, her green eyes bit into those she stared at while her lips were posed in an ever present frown. Snow White had failed to mention she was a Queen--

Briefly, he could see the form of 'Ansem' as he once was shadowed by the hatred he created…that Guardian…the way he was when he fought Sora.

"Move!" The warning cut through the air like a knife, but it had the intended affect. Both were moving out of the way, the sharp nails of the step-mother cutting into their clothing, but doing little more damage. Spinning back to face the heartless, Riku shifted, holding Way to the Dawn in both his hands. A small sphere of darkness swirled around the tip of the Keyblade, flickering with every second it gained more and more energy. With a quick flick of his wrists, he released the blast.

The step-mother laughed in return as the blast was absorbed. "Fighting darkness with darkness is like fighting fire with fire." Her voice although amused, scolded him, her sentence tainted by cruelness.

King Mickey stuffed a hand into his pocket, hurriedly looking for any object. His groping hands came up with nothing; all their items had been used up. There wasn't enough magic left in him to do any more healing, and by looking at Riku, he need it the most. Aside from the tears and missing piece in his clothing, his body was losing its color and the fact that there was an increasingly growing stain of red along his right leg left him deeply concerned. He probably wouldn't be able to defeat her on his own if Riku fell out.

Another wave of dizziness left Riku shaking his head trying to readjust. The King sent him another worried look before taking action. Before Riku could jump into action beside the King, the other bearer was attacking the step-mother in a fury of strikes and slashes. The ache in his right leg was growing, but he chose to ignore it.

There was no way he would let the King have all the fun. The Queen seemed amused by this, her frown was replaced with a smirk. She extended her right hand with her palm facing up. A cloud of black smoke appeared above her hand before clearing out, revealing a small golden box adorned with a heart pierced by a dagger for its latch. Her green eyes caught Riku's as she slowly opened the box carefully to show what was in it. As the lid fell open, the box revealed---nothing. Momentarily, she frowned and looked up to the two staring back at her.

"I failed to retrieve the heart I sought," She dropped the box, producing a dagger from underneath her flapping cloak. "Now, I will replace that with that of another." Her pale hand shadowed that of the heartless form as they proceeded to point at Riku.

The hairs at the back of his neck stood up on end. "Is she also her nobody?" The King looked over the Queen and gave a small nod. "Could be." He responded.

In an instant, she disappeared, leaving vapors of darkness swirling behind her. Momentarily stunned, Riku dropped his guard. Way to the Dawn shifted off to the side instead of in a defensive position—where it should have been.

A rush of wind flew in from behind him, and in a split second, he knew it wasn't the wind. Everything seemed to slow as he glanced over his shoulder, brining up his keyblade to react but nothing could stop the wave of pain he felt.

Riku felt his mouth gape open when the dagger pierced his chest, just above where his heart lay. "No!!" He could vaguely hear the King's cry over his heart's erratic pounding. Involuntarily, he dropped his keyblade. In a flash, the weapon was gone.

An icy pair of arms wrapped around his waist, drawing him back into the arms of the step-mother. His waning eye-sight sought out the King who could do little more than watch. The dagger was not close enough to pierce his heart, but if she felt threatened, Riku knew she would plunge it in all the way. The smell of death engulfed him as he was drawn into the step-mothers full embrace, her boney hands clutching him tightly around his waist. A shiver raced up and down his body as the elderly form of the step-mother cackled into his ear while twisting the dagger slightly, enticing Riku to groan out in pain.

The King lunged forward but stopped just as both forms looked up to him. The Green eyes of the step-mother narrowed at him while the other stared out, daring the King to step closer, which he wisely did not do. Leaning into Riku, the Queen laughed softly as the warm liquid trailed over her hand. "Can you not see that you are a mere pawn in this game?" She questioned to him, her chilled breath brushing harshly against his neck and ear, her free hand running teasingly over his neck.

"Why do you follow so blindly? Is it your destiny to follow, and do nothing more?" His breathing was becoming labored as the Queen's hand now wrapped around his throat, forcing him to lean back into her heartless form to look into her eyes.

"Is it you wish to die a horr—," Her sentence was cut off abruptly. The Queen cried out from pain as the King's keyblade sunk into her shoulder, causing her to jerk in response and release her catch. Riku found himself weightless as he crumpled to the ground, dagger now ripped from him. The Queen shied away from the King, her sobs drowned out by the cries of her heartless. Moving quickly, King Mickey darted forward, ripping the blade out of her shoulder in a clean motion.

Enraged Green eyes stared at the King as he jumped back with his Keyblade, all playfulness gone from his face as he stood over his fallen friend. Risking a glance at Riku, the King thanked whatever god there was when he saw the boy breathing.

Gripping his blade tightly, the King made a dash for her while she was distracted. Lifting his keyblade up and over his head, he swung at the Queen. The King's attempt at a fatal blow was deflected at the still unharmed heartless form managed to conjure up a dark shield that evaporated as soon as the King backed away.

The King braced himself, legs a shoulder width apart with his keyblade poised before him. Closing his eyes, he summoned all the light he could muster. His ears picked up the sound of the heartless and nobody moving towards him…or better yet Riku. His eyes snapped open, his Keyblade shimmering with his efforts. Locking eyes with the Queen, the King lifted his keyblade up with the tip pointing towards the sky, releasing all the light he had summoned in a series of brilliant flashes. The Queen backpedaled, a screech escaping her lips as the light enveloped the enclosed area.

The Queen's screech halted. Green eyes looked down at the King who now stared up at her, the distance between them a scant few inches. Her gaze wandered from the King to the spot where his keyblade ran straight through her heartless and into her abdomen. In a quick motion, the King dislodged the blade and swung around again, this time slicing through the heartless' chest. A faint smile appeared over the Queen's face before she was engulfed by the darkness. The barrier that stood around them flickered once before falling all together. Once the step-mother was entirely engulfed, the King ran over to Riku's side, eyes filled with worry.

"Riku! Wake up!" He shook the teen's shoulders violently but gained no response. His eyes were closed and the blood stain on his chest was increasing. Keeping a leveled head, the King lifted up his right hand and hurriedly pressed at the cuff he wore that commanded the Gummi ship. It took little than a minute for the ship to locate where they were. The trees billowed violently as the ship drew in.

Riku found himself groaning as the wind around him picked up, stinging at his skin. With the last of his energy, he forced his eyes open. He blinked once, and adjusted to the sight. All he could see was the King's black eyes staring back into his, what looked to be tears forming. Another blink, he forced a smile as his eyes fell shut, hearing no more as his body began to shut down.

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**A/N:** Well, it's finally done. I'm half asleep right now, and I know there is probably a ton of mistakes such as grammar and spelling but I'm just happy to be out with this. I outsourced with the fights…well, one of them. The Maleficent fight was done by a dear friend of mine who took _**too**_ long doing the second fight with the step-mother so I went a head and did it on my own. I absolutely suck at fight scenes and stuff relating to them but I sucked it up and went for it. Hopefully I'll be done with the next chapter. Until then, review! 


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters…and that makes me sad…

**Author's Note:** I'm sorry for the long wait! But I have lost my mojo, and lately, I've been gaining it back. Although its not as much as I would like. Thank you to all of you who review! This chapter came out longer than intended, but as long as it came out, I'm proud none the less.

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**Unforeseen**

_The world around him shifted to and fro in an erratic rhythm. Slowly, Roxas awoke to a gentle, but firm shaking of his shoulders. _

"_Roxas…Roooxas." A soft voice, obviously female, whispered to him, her voice playing teasingly with his name. The voice stopped abruptly, but the soft shaking did not, allowing him to take in the other noises of his surroundings. His brows knitted together in confusion. 'Waves?' He could hear the loud unquestionable sound of waves rumbling as they made soft contact with land…._

_He found his eyes drifting open only to be quickly shut as he was met with the blinding light of the sun. "Oh good, your awake." The female stopped shaking him and instead leaned over him. Her shadow cascaded over him, in effect blocking out the sun for him as she moved to peer at his awakening face._

_Roxas opened his eyes to mere slits to look into familiar blue eyes as the figure hovering over him became recognizable. "Namine?" The girl smiled, seemingly pleased that he said her name. _

"_You sleep in funny places, Roxas." She titled her head, eyes glistening with amusement as she spoke. "The others are already ready." She said as she pulled back, tucking her loose strands of blond hair behind her ear. She leaned over once again, and struck Roxas' side with a sharp tap with her index. Roxas flinched at the sensation and slowly he sat up, a look of bewilderment taking over his face as things slowly registered with him. _

"_The…others?" He questioned slowly, looking back into her eyes. She resisted the urge to frown at his behavior, managing only a small nod of conformation. "Yes, the others." She repeated, cracking into a supportive smile while smoothing out her white dress. The sand crunched noisily as she stood, her eyes still trained with Roxas. " C'mon." She extended her hand to him. Roxas eyed her hand a moment, but found himself moving to accept the offered help. Gently, he grasped her extended hand and heaved himself up with her offered help._

"_We're late." The sentence was lost upon deaf ears as Roxas looked around his new surroundings. They were on a beach, the sand warm against his…bare feet? Looking down at himself, he noted that he no longer was in his pants or vest, but in a worn grey muscle shirt, the symbol of his necklace gracing the front of it in solid black lines with knee length black swim trunks._

_Flexing his toes, he found his lips curving into a soft smile as the digits of his feet dug into the warm sand. So this was Destiny Island. Glancing up from his feet, he took in the other surroundings. The beach was not that far from where they stood, the waves crashed into one another, sending mist and foam flying into the air before lapping gently against the vast beach before the water receded back into the ocean only to come ashore once again._

"_Where…." He began, trying to form a coherent question. Slowly, he turned away from the splendid beauty the beach offered to look at Namine, a question in mind, but was cut off by a sharp shove from behind. _

"_Tag!" A familiar voice shouted out as Roxas was sent stumbling forward too his knees. Swinging around, he caught sight of a spiky brown haired boy running in the opposite direction, laughing quiet loudly._

"_Not nice Sora!" Namine shouted after him, rushing forward to help a stunned Roxas to his feet. _

'_What's happening?' He asked himself, watching the figure as he ran into the rolling waves, confusion plainly written on his face. _

"_Sleeping." Kairi laughed, shaking her head as the two girls conversed on how similar guys were. Roxas gazed past the two girls over to where two teenage boys stood about waist high in the ocean. "Riku! That's not fair!" He could hear Sora shout above the chattering of the girls beside him._

_From where he stood, he could see where Riku was currently dunking a flailing Sora, who tried in vain to get away. As if they felt his eyes on them, the two stopped their horse playing to look over at him with Sora smiling widely, Riku offering a smirk. _

"_Roxas! Are you coming in or not?!" Sora shouted at him, standing up in waist deep crystal clear water, hands on his hips to feign agitation. Riku's smirk deepened as he stood besides Sora, silently watching the exchange between the two. _

"_Umm---" Was all he could manage, trying not to blush as the two girls sitting beside him stared up at him, conversation forgotten. Riku turned to Sora, exchanging some words before the silver-haired boy took his leave, waving at the three on the sand before rushing off._

_Automatically, Roxas found himself waving in response, as did Namine and Kairi. _

"_Roxas!! C'mon!!" Sora shouted to him before turning and diving back into the waves that continued to crash around the brunette. _

_For a few moments, he stared at the water that flew over the sand, quiet intimidated by it. With each footstep, he was brought closer to the waters edge. Glancing up from where water met land, he took in a deep breath, gathering all his courage. In a swift motion, his muscle shirt went up and over his head before he discarded it in a heap. Timidly, Roxas stepped into the vicinity of the water. Hesitantly, Roxas stepped yet closer to the waves. The feeling of the cold waves washing over his feet overwhelmed him momentarily, catching the blond off guard, causing him to retract slightly on contact. Looking up from where he stood in ankle deep water, he couldn't see Sora…not a trace. _

"_Sora?!?!" He shouted, panicking as the boy did not respond or appear after several agonizing seconds. A brown blur shot up a few feet from him, smiling and breathing heavily. A perfectly tanned hand flew up and out of the water to run through wet, wild spikes. "What's wrong?" Sora questioned, unaffected by the temperature of the water. Roxas could only muster a small smile, shaking his head as he trudged deeper into the water, ignoring the freezing temperature over to where Sora stood. _

_Roxas could honestly say that he had never, ever saw water this clear before. As he wallowed his way into the deeper section, he could see his bare feet hitting the soft sand below the water as well as the fish that scattered as he took each lumbering step. Looking up from the now waist-deep water, he stopped, slightly startled as he saw Sora's hand extended out to him, beckoning him silently to take it._

"_Come with me." Sora whispered to him, leaning towards his Nobody, a dark look in his eyes with a ghost of a smile tainting his lips. "Sora…what are you talking about?" Roxas asked, taking a step back as Sora retracted his hand in response, chuckling to himself. _

"_We're one in the same….Roxas." Sora whispered as if explaining it to himself more than to Roxas, his voice haunting as he back pedaled, pushing himself deeper into the waves._

"_Can't you feel it?" The waves picked up, surrounding Sora and carrying him further out. _

"_Sora…" Roxas began, stepping towards the boy before catching sight of something rolling in fast behind the brunette._

"_Sora!" Roxas lunged forward into the water, diving his hands as hard and as fast as possible into each wave that crashed into him, trying to propel himself to his Other. Sora just smiled at Roxas, ignoring the large wave that rushed towards them. _

"_Come with me." Sora repeated, outstretching his hand as he floated, closing his eyes while awaiting the out come. _

_As hard as he could, Roxas swam towards Sora, ignoring the burning of the salt in his eyes and the gallons of water burning his throat on its way down into his stomach, he could have cared less even if a shark came up behind him, he was keeping a desperate eye on Sora no matter what._

"_I'll---" Roxas swung his arm out, his legs kicking madly at the water, sending foam and spray flying out behind him as he closed the gap between himself and Sora._

"—_Go---" His finger tips ghosted over Sora's as he closed the distance, but the impact of the massive wave tore them apart. _

"_Make your choice." Sora's voice rang out to him as he tumbled out of control in the water. Slowly, he found himself drifting downwards, his body dragged down deeper and deeper into the endless water. Opening his clenched eyes, he found himself staring at the slowly disappearing sun hovering over the water. With each second he did not react, he was loosing sight of the light, the darkness slowly creeping in to comfort him as the light retreated; abandoning him. _

"_I don't know what to do." He whispered, allowing his eyes to close slowly, falling into the darkness he was born into. _

"_Help me." Sora's voice drifted to him, pleading with him for salvation._

* * *

A faint rumbling sound was Roxas' first and only warning before a thick, grated object ran straight across his left cheek. Instantly, he was awakened. His hazy eyesight focused first on a wall before a heaviness descended upon his chest just below his ribcage, making it increasingly difficult for him to draw breath. He found himself burrowing his face into a nearby pillow, shielding his face from the insatiable grating his face was undergoing. For a short while, he found himself relieved when the wet item did not follow in pursuit.

The relief was short lived as the patch of pale skin was attacked again. Unable to move his right arm, he found his left arm flying up to push the offending object away, trying his best to move the enormous weight. His hand was met with a warm, hairy heat as it pushed up on the offender's strong muscled chest. Pushing forcefully, he tried to get rid of the heavy weight, arm shaking as he strained.

Inhaling, he nearly gagged as he caught the whiff of a very foul smell. His eyes flew open almost unwillingly to see a blanket of orange and black just inches from his face. A pure white underbelly hovered evenly over his body, revealing the identity of his assailant. A low purr was being emitted, but to him, it felt more like a growl that reverberated in his chest. He froze, his hand dropping limply off to his side. Every muscle in his body tensed as things slowly dawned on him.

Gulping, he allowed the enormous tiger to lick his face, his head lolling and moving slightly with every powerful roll of the tiger's rough tongue. The coarse ministrations of the sandpaper-like tongue left Roxas' cheek stinging. With every passing second, his cheek grew raw and on the verge of bleeding.

Casting a cautious look down at his chest, he could see the tiger's left forepaw placed atop of his flat stomach, nails barred and retracting ever so slightly with every lick the massive mammal made.

"Raja!" A voice shouted from somewhere in the room, startling Roxas as well as the tiger. The tiger paused in its ministrations, the purr stopping to turn into a full out growl. From his place on the bed, Roxas could see the tiger's thick tail twitching irritated behind it with golden eyes drawn away from him towards another figure within the room.

"Get away from him Raja!" Roxas felt like he wanted to cry as his savior spoke up once again, ignoring the tiger's visible irritation.

Vaguely from under the tiger's body, he could hear the hurried footsteps of a person as he drew closer. Still unwilling to move, he felt the large cat being hauled off of him by a now visible young man, dressed in rather beaten clothing.

"Get outta here Raja!" The young man shouted at the tiger, voice stern with a fist full of fur from the tiger's neck. The tiger's eyes narrowed at the young man as he was escorted out, ears pinned unhappily back with long tail wiggling behind him in agitation before doing as it was told, walking silently off and disappearing from view with no need of further assistance.

"Hey there, you okay?" Roxas nodded while wiping the wet portion of his cheek with the backside of his hand only to flinch as his cheek stung from the contact.

"Ya…I'm fine." Roxas finally spoke, looking closer at the man who spared him from the tiger. He looked familiar. The young man was examining him closely as well, a look on his face that screamed confusion.

Clearing his throat, he gained the man's attention. "Where's my friends." He found his lip twitch as he forced a small smile, trying not to look demented. 'Friends,' they weren't exactly _his _friends, not that they were even friendly towards one another in the first place.

The young man's face brightened and he stood, hands on his hips with a smile on his face. "They're in the Hall, eating and talking to the Sultan."

"Oh." Looking away from the man, he looked down at his taped up shoulder. Reading the teen's confusion, the young man spoke. "You landed pretty hard on it. It would have been worse if Carpet didn't catch you and the others---" He trailed off, unwilling to release any more information.

"Carpet?" Roxas asked, peeling his eyes away from his shoulder to look at the other who seemed to smile at his confusion.

"Ya! A magic carpet. We saw what happened and Carpet went to the rescue." The man paused, chuckling. "Although he did pay for it... That blade of yours tore right through him."

A magic carpet? And he killed it?! Roxas felt his cheeks go hot from embarrassment as the man just laughed. "It'll be fine," He reassured with a shrug. "Genie is taking care of it." The man stated dismissively.

Roxas shifted to sit up on the bed, the sheets falling away and to lay crumpled around him. Blue eyes stared into brown eyes, an eyebrow quirked. Genie?

"Oh, by the way, my name's Aladdin." The man stepped closer, sticking his left hand out to better suite Roxas' needs. Roxas stared at the outstretched hand a moment before reaching out to shake it.

"I'm Roxas." He introduced himself in turn.

* * *

The palace in Agrabah, if possible, was even more lavishly decorated than the castle of the King's, Roxas noted offhandedly. Every inch of what he walked past was either dipped in gold or garnished in fine fabrics, showing off the wealth the kingdom had to offer to a ridiculous extent. He could hear laughter and the faint sound of chatter as they walked closer to their destination. 

Nice to know he was worried about, Roxas scoffed, tenderly stroking his taped shoulder with his free left hand.

The two walked in amiable silence, only a few words of information and polite chatter passing between them. The duo passed a room with the doors fully open. They passed the open doors without much of a fuss until Aladdin paused mid step and backtracked, head turned to look into the room they had just passed.

Roxas stopped walking, his head turned to watch the young man, still confused as Aladdin paused in front of the open door. He broke into a wide grin, motioning for Roxas to join him. Roxas quickly walked up to where Aladdin stood and looked into the room.

"Oh come now Carpet, it's not all that bad." A blue man spoke from the group of three surrounding what looked like an operating table with a carpet firmly attached by ropes and an ample amount of metal shackles.

"Doctor, proceed." A nurse, he assumed, spoke up….other than the white skimpy outfit 'she' wore, 'her' blue legs were as hairy as the carpet 'she' worked on….'her' voice as fake as 'her'---

"Nurse! Please, give me…the _needle_." With the simple word, the carpet tethered to the table began to wither uncontrollably, trying to free itself from the scene currently playing.

The other Nurse in the room rushed forward, hands firmly forcing the carpet to rest on the table with very manly looking hands.

"Doctor, proceed." The doctor nodded, pulling white gloves on, snapping them for an added flare before reaching over to a tray filled with rather sharp looking equipment.

"Nurse, please, if you will."

The doctor held up a needle, holding it out to the nurse who spoke earlier with a hopeful expression on his face with the other hand holding out a spool of purple thread. The Nurse rolled 'her' eyes, as 'she' took the needle and thread and tried 'her' best to fit the thread through the small eye.

"Looks like we'll be here a while Nurse." He spoke to the other Nurse who nodded in response, leaning against the operating table while magically summoning a tasty looking drink to his hands.

The Nurse assigned to the appointed task looked annoyed, eyes narrowed as she stuck out the threaded needle, a frown on her manly face.

The doctor chuckled uneasily as he did away with his drink, ignoring the shatter of glass and turned to the Carpet.

"Ah….let's begin!" He announced. The heart monitor attached to the Carpet began to fluctuate rapidly, little tasseled 'feet' twitching from fear.

The two nurses as well as the doctor rushed forward towards the restrained carpet, creating a cloud of commotion over the scene.

Roxas spared a glance at Aladdin, who was laughing silently behind his hands, a few tears escaping from his eyes. Turning back to the action in the room, there was now no longer an operating table, or nurses...just a blue man…

"Man Genie…" Aladdin trailed off, still smiling as he walked into the room that the blue man stood in, his hands holding a flailing carpet.

"Al!" Genie shouted, spinning around rather quickly, the doctor's outfit poofing away as he turned into his normal attire in a vapor of blue clouds. "He's as good as new." Genie spoke, eyes glimmering with pride as he held up the now unmoving carpet, showing off the lack of tidy stitching with a grin.

Like flaring out a blanket, Genie flicked the Carpet out, letting the wind show off the closed wound. Upon hearing the good news, the Carpet shook itself from its stunned stupor before wiggling its way from Genie's hands, moving as quickly as possible from the room out the open window overlooking the town just beyond the palace walls.

"What?!" Genie shrieked, running after the Carpet up until the window. "No thank you?!" Genie shouted, hand raised a clenched fist, waving it in a show of mock rage.

"Genie, I would like you to meet Roxas."

Roxas backed away as the blue man suddenly appeared within a hairs length away from him, invading his personal space with unabashed curiosity. Uncomfortable, Roxas leaned back as Genie leaned closer, brining an oversized magnifying glass up to examine the boy closer.

Roxas could feel the rush of heat in his cheeks as he stumbled over himself as he backtracked, sending himself to the ground just before the doors. The blue man failed to register this, only leaning in closer with the large distorted glass, making the blue man's eye look extremely odd and big. "Ohh…" There was a pause before Genie felt obligated to speak again. "Ahh…." Another long pause followed and even more scrutiny.

"Well…don't you look familiar?" Genie finally spoke up, voice mono tone as he examined the boy under his gaze, catching sight of the inflamed cheek and bandaged up shoulder.

"Tsk, tsk…such damage." He muttered, overlooking the other tatters such as torn clothing and the many bruises adorning Roxas' pale arms.

"He's friends with Donald and Goofy." Aladdin spoke up, chuckling as Genie's eyes lit up, doing away with the magnifying glass before taking the blond boy into a tight hug and spinning him in strong magical arms in circles around the room.

"Any friend of theirs is a friend of mine!" He announced, squeezing Roxas to him, burying the blonde's face into his large blue chest. Genie finally set Roxas down when the blond fell into coughing fits. Almost immediately, the nobody crumpled back to the ground from the experience. Grinning sheepishly, Genie patted the boy's back as he gasped for the oxygen he was deprived of by his enthusiasm.

"Oh! I haven't introduced myself!" Genie exclaimed, feeling extremely rude for not doing so.

"I'm Genie…and you are?" He prodded, leaning towards the blond boy who stared up at him with impossibly wide eyes. "Um…..Roxas…I'm Roxas." He finally responded, having thought about his answer before replying.

"Roxas? Nice to meet you!" Genie immediately took in Roxas' smaller hands in his own, shaking violently in his own form of a handshake.

"C'mon Roxas, the Sultan would like to speak with you." Aladdin stepped forward, feeling obligated to release Roxas of Genie's grasp.

"We'll see you later Genie." Genie smiled to his friend before hefting up Roxas. "I'll be around, Al. See ya around Roxas." And with that, the blue man was gone, disappearing in a poof of blue smoke.

"He can be a little dramatic sometimes." Aladdin smiled as Roxas gave him a look of exasperation. "Well…let's get going." Roxas shook his head, earning a laugh from Aladdin. Biting his lip, Roxas shifted his shoulder that managed to move uncomfortably within the make shift sling. Aladdin leveled him with a serious look, glancing over his shoulder before speaking.

"Genie could take care of that for you." Roxas stared at the tattered man, and blinked.

"No thanks." He finally responded, realizing that Aladdin was not kidding. The young man laughed, patting his blond friend in the process. "He's not all that bad." He defended his blue pal, leading Roxas out of the room and towards the Hall as they were doing earlier.

* * *

The voices began to hush as the two made their entrance into the extraordinarily decorated hall. Tapestries of fine silk hung from the ceiling about three stories up, embroidered with what could only be assumed to be the families royal seal. To either side of the dinning hall, marble pillars of pure white bordered each wall, between their respective gaps sat huge pots with exotic looking plants and flowers. In the center of all the lavishness sat an extremely large red oak table that stretched the whole distance of the room, looking as if it could seat the whole city of Agrabah if arranged right.

But the only people sitting in the great Hall were Donald, Goofy, and a short man dressed in white from head to toe. The look of the short man was completed with a baby blue plume dangling haphazardly in the old mans face whose beard also happened to be white.

"Roxas!!" Goofy shouted, breaking the silence and his concentration on the Hall's décor. "A-hyuck!" The Knight's laugh bounced off the various items in the expansive room while he eagerly waved to the nobody. Roxas narrowed his eyes at the two sitting quiet contently before Aladdin spoke up.

"That's the Sultan." His line of sight once again fell on the small man who was now eagerly running towards him, jumping up and down while clapping his hands with enough enthusiasm for the two of them.

"Welcome! Welcome! Please, have a seat!" The Sultan smiled, moving to stand right in front of him, black eyes twinkling. Not wanting to offend a great Sultan, he moved to follow the small man as he bounded un-royal like back to his seat.

"Come now, tell me more of you journey." The Sultan demanded, scurrying up his large, lavish seat, making himself comfortable as he eagerly awaited more tales.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Roxas looked to Aladdin for instruction, but the young man was gone. Breaking into a small frown, Roxas turned his attention back to the table, and pulled out a finely sculpted wooden chair an empty seat away from both Donald and Goofy to sit at. Neither of the two took any notice, engaging in another tall-tale of the duo taking on thousands of heartless at once.

Minutes dragged by and each story that was told exceeded the reasonable level of exaggeration with leaps and bounds. The padding of the soft seating beckoned his aching back with each stretch and movement he felt he had to take to stay awake…or at least responsive. So ignoring all the protocols of manners and such, he found himself slouching back into the padding, his left arm cocked up on the arm of the chair to hold his face up, fist pressed into his throbbing cheek as minutes of chatter passed on.

A movement to his right captured his attention. His curious gaze met with Aladdin's who wore a smile of understanding mixed with some empathy.

"And I have to sit through this almost everyday." Aladdin shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head at the reasoning of royals. Roxas could only stare as the other man leaned back into the chair, bringing his feet full of floor debris up and onto the table without as much as batting an eyelash.

Seeing Roxas' look of surprise, Aladdin broke into a deeper grin, arms folding to rest behind his neck as he also slouched.

"As long as Jasmine doesn't see me like this…the Sultan doesn't mind. He understands too….must be a guy thing."

Roxas merely nodded at him. "Aha!" An exited cry caused him to shot up in his half asleep state, eyes darting frantically around for enemies. "Dinner is ready!" The Sultan shouted, laughing at the three travelers expressions.

Off to his left, he could hear the loud grumbling of both Donald and Goofy, barely feeling the squeeze of his own stomach. "Dinner already?" He asked aloud.

"You've been out for a while." Roxas looked over to him. Aladdin yanked off his feet from the table as a plate of food was dangled just in front of him.

"Don't worry, you haven't been here long. You guys crashed here late yesterday. Jasmine is out…she won't be back until maybe tomorrow night at the latest." Roxas shook his head, not really wanting to stay any longer than necessary. A plate well stocked with food was placed before him as well as the others.

"Dig in! We shall show our hospitality is superior to all others!" The Sultan announced, boasting as only a sultan could boast, raising his wine goblet donned with jewels of various colors, encouraging the others to do the same.

"Gawsh….this is a lot of food….Don't you think Donald?" Goofy turned his head to look at Donald who paused mid-chew.

The Wizard seemed to ponder the Knight's question before smiling, truly happy to be fed. "Nah." And with that short answer, he dived back in to his food. Several minutes later, the small group sat hunched in their seats, bellies filled to max capacity. Rubbing his outstretch belly, Donald smiled contently, looking to Goofy who wore the same expression as he.

"I see you three are filled." The sultan smiled, the corners of his lips barely visible under the white hairs of his curled mustache. With joyful enthusiasm, he patted his rounded belly before jumping up to stand at the foot of his massive throne.

Aladdin gave him a sharp nudge, motioning him to stand. Roxas huffed, his left arm flying over to lay a hard smack on Goofy's shoulder. The Knight looked slightly confused but quickly covered it up, nudging Donald as he stood as well. Manners relearned, the three obediently tucked in their chairs before turning to look at the Sultan whose eyes beamed with joy.

"You must stay! We never had the opportunity to thank you all for the deeds you have done."

Roxas opened his mouth, about to protest before the Sultan spoke up, cutting him off in the process. "We will not take no for an answer. I was informed of your situation by both Donald and Goofy, my daughter will gladly lend her services to your cause. But until she arrives, you must rest!" The sultan leveled the three with a stern look before breaking it with a fit of happy giggles. "Company! It truly has been a while until we had company! Now these servants will see to it that your every demand is met. If anything more is needed, do not hesitate."

Both Donald and Goofy bowed politely, roughly taking Roxas by the back of the neck down with them to do the same. "Thank you, your Majesty." The Sultan laughed once again, ushering them up. "Now, now…don't fret with formalities. Get some rest. I will see you three tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." The three chorused. The three were split apart, both Donald and Goofy led down one hall while Roxas was led in the opposite direction. The walk was silent, as he was escorted to his quarters. The servant halted in front of a finely engraved wooden door decorated with tigers and birds that seemed to launch out. The door was pushed open gently, the servant bowed low, hands directing Roxas in.

"This is where you will be staying." The servant spoke, standing upright. "It you need anything at all, do not hesitate to ask. We are at your command."

"Oh…uh…thanks." He managed to say before the servant walked away. Turning, he looked at the contents of the room. Pretty quaint, he mused, very homey with a small fireplace and a balcony...

…._Just_ like Disney Castle.

The view of the city just beyond the palace wall's beckoned him. Taking a few strides forward, he parted the silk drapes that served as a barrier between the room and the outside view. Resting his hands along the banister, Roxas accessed its width, tracing the smooth edges with his finger tips, not willing to have to endure another startling wake up as he had done in the King's castle.

Satisfied with the banister itself, he swung himself up onto the railing with little effort, both hands gripped the smooth surface just in case he was to slip. Slowly, he relaxed, bringing his hands to his lap as soon as he was certain he was not going to fall.

The dinner had ended earlier than expected, leaving plenty of time to do nothing more than explore the palace since Princess Jasmine was not due back home until a day or so from now. Bringing his usable arm up and over his head, he stretched, letting an unguarded groan of satisfaction filter through the cooling air.

Taking in a deep breath, Roxas dropped his hand, shrugging his shoulders to get himself to relax more only to stop suddenly, cringing as his sore shoulder sparked to life in protest at the reckless movement.

It was a major inconvenience now, he thought snidely, opening his left hand to catch Oblivion. Digging his heels into the smooth surface of the bottom railing, Roxas drew the Keyblade upwards, shouting loud and proud "Curaga!" only to feel extremely silly when nothing happened in accordance to his shout. Despite having a 'good' rest, he could feel his magic level at an extreme low. Frowning, the nobody new that he would have to travel into the town held at bay by the towering wall to find some supplies. With a deep sigh of regret, Roxas dropped his arm, watching as Oblivion sank back into its light fragments of which it was made up of.

It wasn't a pleasant feeling, he concluded, not having much magic to rely on. He felt drained, but not on the verge of fatigue…although some of his magic was beginning to restore itself, it needed a helping hand from an Ether.

Refusing to brood on his situation for longer than necessary, Roxas turned his attention to the view once again. He could see tiny figures, each leisurely taking their own pace as their day slowly drew to a close. Small children, he could only surmise, ran about, darting carelessly between the business men and women, laughing off their stern warnings and tongue lashings.

A flickering image of Twilight Town came to mind, causing a ghost of a smile to grace his lips. As much as it had been just something 'in his head,' he treasured the memories he had accumulated during his stay in the quaint town.

A soft knock brought him out of his musings. "Roxas? Um…can I come in?" Goofy asked, voice as faint as the knock itself.

Roxas stiffened slightly before glancing over his shoulder to the Knight who stood unmoving at the doorway, his strange green hat firmly grasped in front of him.

"I guess I'll see ya later…" Roxas stared at the reluctantly retreating form before blinking, forgetting to answer the Knight's request.

"Wait! Goofy!..." Roxas trailed off, a hand flying out to reach Goofy who was an impossible distance away, as if that action alone would halt the Knight in his tracks. Goofy's ears perked upon the sudden response, halting the Knight mid-step. Slowly, Goofy looked back at Roxas questioningly.

"Come in." Roxas finished, allowing his hand to fall back at his side, offering a hint of a smile. The Knight nodded slightly, head bowed with his gloved hands fiddling nervously with the green hat once again.

Staring at Goofy a bit longer, Roxas turned his gaze back out over the city. A change in the air around him told him Goofy was beside him, the sound of material stretching and bending only finalizing his assumption.

Roxas glanced over at Goofy as the Knight stood beside him a respectable distance away, still fidgeting with his hat. Blue eyes scanned Goofy's face for any signs of emotion besides the obvious nervousness. He felt himself scoff at that, shaking his head at that notion. A Nobody? Judging a person with a heart for emotion?

He allowed his eyes to leave the Knight to stare back over the beautiful horizon when he felt Goofy tense under his scrutiny.

Shifting uncomfortably, Roxas himself became unsettled, choosing to stay silent. "What happened at the castle…" Goofy began, gulping loudly before falling silent.

Roxas felt overwhelming guilt build up. "I'm sorry." He whispered, avoiding the Knight's gaze.

He could hear Goofy sigh. "No…no, its not that…I understand you know…you have a lot on you mind…" Goofy reasoned, leaning forward so that he was also overlooking the town.

"But that gives me no excuse," Roxas began, finally looking up to meet Goofy's gaze. He fell silent, hands clenched unconsciously. Fitfully, he bean to chew at his bottom lip, searching for the words he wasn't familiar with. "I'm sorry…" He drew in a shaky breath before swallowing hard. "…I'm sorry that I took it out on you."

A moment of silence stretched after he finished speaking before finally Goofy snapped. "A-hyuck!" Roxas felt himself smile as the Knight finally laughed for the first time since the encounter. "I'm glad you didn't take it out on me, Roxas. Gawsh, I probably wouldn't be here right now if you did." Goofy slapped his back playfully, smiling truly as Roxas clung tightly to the banister when he slipped a bit forward.

"Well, goodnight Roxas. We'll be seein' ya tomorrow." Relaxing his hold on the railing, Roxas looked up to Goofy, forcing a smile. "Goodnight." Goofy smiled back before laughing softly. The Knight trudged out as quietly as possible, leaving Roxas to his own thoughts.

The soft click let him know that the door was closed.

"I really am sorry."

* * *

The early morning temperature was a welcomed change from the scorching heat of the afternoon. Roxas stretched lazily as he walked out of the palace gate, casually glancing at the two guards who eyed him warily. It took some persuading, but finally, he was allowed to walk around unattended in the local bazaar. He scoffed. Not that he need their permission, but the Sultan did urge him to take care because of the large heartless population. No one really paid him any attention as he strolled about, and he found it to be really enjoyable. It was actually quiet nice to walk around and not be under immediate danger.

The sun, however, was relentless. The heat alone probably nearing the hundreds…and from the looks of it, it probably was only going to get worse. Seeking solitude, Roxas found himself wandering through what looked like a gap in a rather thick brick wall to rest under the tattered remains of a stone structure. Looking up, several wooden planks laid strewn across the gaping hole that creaked with the slightest wind. However the conditions, he found it suitable enough to escape the suns rays. Leaning back against the nearest wall, he relaxed, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand while releasing a sigh. It was really, really hot.

"Ah…a costumer." A male voice beside him caught his attention. Looking down, he noticed a dark tanned man, no taller than Donald wearing an extremely large turban that increased his height to just about shoulder level, looking up at him with a glimmer in his eyes. The whole look of the man screamed 'Don't trust me.'

"What do you sell?" He questioned while quirking a brow, choosing his words wisely. The question alone earned a grin from the man who adjusted his turban before turning to enter what must have been his store.

"I sell everything." Was the simple statement before he disappeared into the cloth covered doorway, not even casting a glance back at him to make sure he was following.

Looking around, he became wary before following the man into the little shop he obviously owned. Once he passed the fabric doorway, he found himself staring at an unbelievable amount of gold that stretched further back into what looked like the back of the shop. The shop was actually busy at the moment with many gathering to look at the goods lining the walls and those that were left on the floor without much as a care.

"What do you seek, young traveler?" He had to look over people's shoulders to see the man that spoke to him earlier. Pushing his way by the window shoppers, he stopped when he reached the counter where the man was leaning on, awaiting his reply.

What did he need? He ran over his mental list before looking back down at the man. "Potions, ethers, hi-potions—," The man cut him off with a wave of a hand, disappearing in the blink of an eye to the pile of goods stacked behind him.

"You remind me of a boy that use to come here. He would always ask for the same thing…" The man stopped his burrowing to glance up at Roxas before breaking into a grin. "And you do look like him." Roxas shifted nervously, fiddling with his arm band while the man gathered the items.

After a few moments, the man popped up before him, a huge brown sack filled with a fair amount of assorted goods. "50,000 munny." Roxas felt his fist clench. The shop owner seemed to notice this and backed away, taking the bag with him, a guarded eye on the teen. "Fine. You can go else where for business…" The Peddler felt a huge grin spread over his face, turning his back to re-stock all the items. "But….you should know that I'm the only shopkeeper that sells these items."

Roxas bit his lip, both from frustration and from the sheer force he was using trying to keep in the barrage of slurs he was so tempted to say. He felt his shoulders slump in defeat. "I'll take it." He muttered, refusing to meet the man's gaze. The Peddler spun around, placing the bag on top of the counter. "My prices are fair." Roxas could only turn his head away, wanting so badly to punch the man in the face.

"The munny?" He felt a small prod at his bandaged shoulder and felt the rage boil back up. Reluctantly, he fished into his pant pocket with his left, all the while glaring at the small man. It took him a while, but he counted it all. It was a ton of munny after all.

His pants suddenly felt lighter. "Here you go. Have a great day." The Peddler smiled politely up at the blond, who in turn glared at him.

Frustrated, he grabbed the sack out of the man's hand and turned to storm out. "Come again!" The man shouted as he exited.

Forcing himself to let bygones be bygones, he walked away, dragging the sack to a resting place just yards in front of the palace gates. Plopping down, he fumbled through the sack's rope to look at what he bought. He felt his rage dissipate some what as he reached in for an Ether. This was worth the price, he thought as he threw the container into the air, releasing its magic on him.

The effects were instantaneous. He could literally feel his magic now, the warm feeling pulsing through his body as a physical result. He shifted, sitting cross-legged before summoning Oathkeeper. The sight caught the eye of many as they walked by. "Curaga!" He couldn't hide the smirk as the spell took immediate affect.

Dismissing the blade, he hurriedly turned his attention to the wrappings constraining his arm to his body, trying madly to get the bandages off. Anxious fingers fumbled over one another as he yanked at the make-shift sling, failing to get a grip on the one piece of cloth that would undo the entire thing.

"Heartless!!" A woman's shrill cry rang out, causing all to stop what they were doing and run. Roxas paused to look up at the town's people running in any direction. He shot up in an instant, pushing the bag to hide behind a barrel of some sorts before summoning Oblivion in his left. His right arm ached, straining to do the same.

"Run!!" A man's voice cried over the many cries of children and women. Roxas rushed forward, swinging Oblivion around to strike the closest heartless in its chest, leaving behind wisps of darkness as it disintegrated on impact, its captive heart drifting towards the sky.

It always seemed that much easier with two blades….Roxas didn't have much time to debate his new situation and ducked just as a Fat Bandit flew past. Rolling away, he found himself clumsily getting up. Without his right arm, he felt a little off balance, his stability leaning more to the left with the weight of the Keyblade.

A huge mass slammed him from behind, sending him into the nearest wall. Catching his breath, he turned in time to see three more Fat Bandit's appearing. Gritting his teeth, he rushed towards the one he felt had attacked him. Oblivion simply bounced off the massive form, ricocheting off with every blow he landed. Jumping up, he flipped and landed hastily behind the big heartless and struck. The creature stumbled forward before rolling to its front, exposing its back to a smirking Roxas.

Leaping into the air once again, he brought down Oblivion to pierce through the heartless, feeling his weight pass through as his enemy evaporated. Roxas felt a cold shiver run through his body as the heart grazed him lightly on its way up.

Shaking himself off, he turned his attention to the other two, watching with a grin as they back away before charging at him. Gripping Oblivion more tightly, he rushed to meet them. A high pitched whistle caught his attention, but not in time to avoid the sword as it sliced into his right arm. Skidding to a halt, he looked down at his now free, bleeding right arm. Summoning Oathkeeper, he scanned the heartless, all at once ignoring his new injury.

The two remaining Fat Bandits charged at him, leaving almost no room to duck or attack. Roxas threw himself to the right, avoiding one Bandit only to get slammed by the other. The heartless stopped abruptly, letting the nobodies body continued on without aid. The impact with the ground wasn't that bad, the never ending stream of flames that pelted his exposed backside after he came to a rest was the one that smarted.

Using Oathkeeper, he stood. His right arm ached from his previous injury and the new wound that was bleeding quiet freely. Rolling his right shoulder, he fought off the tingling sensation running up and down his limb. He slowly became aware of the fact that he was loosing hold of Oathkeeper as seeing how the handle was now coated and slick with his blood.

Looking away from his injuries, he barreled into the swarm of heartless that had appeared. Swinging the two keyblades around him, he pushed back the enemies that came at him before bringing the blades back around to finish off the job. A cloud of darkness flew around him, dancing around the two keyblades and their master as his given weapons sliced into each heartless they bit into before releasing the hearts they ensnared.

A blood stained sword skimmed by his face, slicing lightly into his face where that tiger had licked him. Flinching, he spun around, catching the heartless with both blades, one digging into its neck while the other sawed it in half. Roxas met undaunted the gaze of the Luna Bandit as each blade ripped into it in what seemed like slow motion. In the seconds of eye contact, he could see its pain along with the life slipping right out of it as its eyes dulled when the blades finished sawing through its body completely.

Breathing heavily, he slowly corrected himself when the last of the Heartless were dealt with. His vision swam as he corrected himself, but he shook it off, eyes slowly looking over the battle field. Dismissing Oathkeeper, he brought up Oblivion. "Curaga!" The green glow enveloped him, easing the pain and stinging of each of his wounds. Looking at his right arm, he sighed. Too bad curaga did not take away the evidence of wounds. A good portion of his right pant leg was tinted red from the blood that dripped off his arm.

The only good thing about the battle was that he actually got a few items and a small fortune in munny. Taking a look around, he viewed the abandoned bazaar while doing away with Oblivion.

"You're really good." He spun around to meet Aladdin's stoic face. He narrowed his eyes at the tattered man before responding. "Nice of you to help me." Aladdin looked away, the sarcasm of the statement lingering in the air before he chose to speak.

"You didn't look like you needed help." Aladdin admitted, sounding a bit envious. Roxas felt his ego morale go up a little, standing proudly as he walked to where he abandoned his sack of goods.

"I _never_ need help." He could hear Aladdin following him, but choose to ignore him. Roxas rounded the corner, stopping only to pick up the goods he bought that still lay half-hidden. He grunted, slinging the sack over his shoulder before continuing on to the palace.

"Stop thief!" Roxas glanced over his shoulder, stopping in his tracks as a small, fury monkey with a purple hat and matching vest flew by in a hurry, trying its best to carry a huge golden sphere while trying to avoid running over the golden necklaces partially draped around its small body. Aladdin groaned as he started in a run after the monkey, looking back at Roxas with a shrug for a response.

"Abu!" Aladdin shouted after the crook, jumping over thrown objects. "That street rat! How the Princess loves him is beyond me…He's nothing but a pest…" The Peddler from earlier muttered to himself, halting beside Roxas to catch his breath before acknowledging his presence.

"I heard your ship is in need of some….repairs…" Gleaming eyes turned to look up at his surprised ones. Roxas felt the need to slap himself, staring shocked at the man who wore a knowing smile. He forgot! "No…its fine." He lied, breaking eye contact with the man while shifting the bag to rest more comfortably over his shoulder. The Peddler opened his mouth to retort, but choose to follow the blond when he started to walk away. Relieved, he stepped through the palace's gates where two rather large men stood, arms crossed over their chests and curved swords attached warningly by their sides. Roxas felt a smug smile drift over his lips as the guards barely acknowledge him, choosing to pay more attention to the Peddler that they were obviously familiar with.

"Remember! _I_ have the best prices!" The tiny shopkeeper shouted over massively built arms of the guards, trying his best to see the boy.

Roxas waved the man off, his attention now falling to the courtyard he was passing through. A brief image of how it looked before flashed in his mind, but the courtyard he walked through now was quiet literally a forest in the middle of a desert. The change in temperature was welcoming, the cool air felt refreshing from under the many trees lining the path to the palace doors.

What a difference trees made. Off to his left, sat a fountain dribbling clear water from the three lavishly decorated levels. A wave of grass fluttered from a small gust of wind. Roxas bit his lip, shifting the sack once again. It must have been Genie's doing…grass and sand kinda didn't quiet fit together…

Roxas halted, staring up at the large wooden doors before him. There was a moment of silence before the sound of groaning wood and clanking metal hinted the doors were beginning to open. Slowly, the doors creaked open, allowing him to step in before they began to shut. Taking a quick look around, the nobody gathered his bearings, glancing in all directions, judging weather he should take a right or a left before heading off to the library…which he guessed was to his right.

Not even a few paces into the hall, a small, faint sound caught his ear, causing him to stop and look to his left where a small creature sat huddled, barely visible in the shadow of a pillar. Looking around, Roxas saw no other person in the large hall way before moving to stand by the terrified creature. "Umm…Abu?" He repeated the foreign name he heard Aladdin use earlier, wondering if the furry object would respond. Immediately, the monkey's head shot up at the mention of its name, eyes wide. Roxas' gaze fell from the monkey's face to the large sum of gold he clung madly too.

"Aha!" Roxas jumped back in surprise as Aladdin swooshed in before him, grabbing the monkey by its tale before Abu had a chance to even react. Abu gave a loud wail, from pain or from being caught, Roxas couldn't tell, but he kept silent, watching Aladdin try to pry the small amount of riches out of the tiny primate's hands.

"C'mon Abu! This is the third time this week!" Aladdin exclaimed exasperated as he held the squirming monkey while finally getting the treasure he sought. Abu screeched, causing Roxas to wince at the loud frequency. Aladdin released his hold on Abu's tail as seeing as he had what he came for, allowing the monkey to take off running.

"It's kinda getting old…" Aladdin trailed off, holding up the jewelry for Roxas to see. "He likes shinny things…" He explained with a forced smile, pocketing the goods in his patched up pocket.

"Donald and Goofy are in the Library." Roxas nodded, eyes scanning the many doors in search of the said room. After a moment, a tanned finger shot out in his line of vision, pointing to the door just off to his right. "That's the library." Roxas felt himself nod again, moving to the door that was kindly pointed out to him without hesitation. "Thanks." Aladdin clapped him on the back before walking off to apologize once again to the Peddler.

He swung the door open, eyes landing on both Donald and Goofy who were strewn across lavish benches. "Here." He tossed the bag of goods over to the two. Donald squawked in surprise as the sack landed with a loud thud beside him. The wizard glared at Roxas, who returned the glare with equal ferocity.

"What'cha got Roxas?" Goofy asked, sitting up from his comfortable position on the bench to see what items were bought. Donald mumbled something under his breath before getting up to kneel before the sack, unraveling the ties around it.

Roxas sighed before sitting down at the bench Goofy sat on, folding his arms to rest behind his neck. Goofy looked over at him, eyes trained on the blood splatters and burnt marks. "Had trouble?" Roxas shrugged, leaning into the velvety cushions. "You could say that."

In somewhat silence, Donald passed out the items according to their needs. Soon enough, the sack fell empty. Goofy chuckled, stuffing the last of his items into his pockets as the others did the same. "What next?" Donald asked, finding space in his vest to put his ethers. "What about the Gummi Ship?" Goofy suddenly blurted out, smiling despite the harsh glares he was receiving.

"Is their anything left of it?" Roxas asked, recalling what he last saw of the machine. He cringed, realizing that there wasn't much to recall. Donald shrugged, shifting to sit on the floor more comfortably. . "Aladdin didn't mention the ship…" The wizard trailed off, finding his feathers of interest.

"So what do we do?" Silence. The three sighed in unison.

"Maybe Genie can help us." Goofy offered up, jumping at the resounding, 'NO!' from both Roxas and Donald. "Gawsh, just trying to help…" Goofy mumbled, sulking slightly.

"Aladdin can take us to the ship." Donald announced, standing up to exit the library. "How can he help us do that?" Roxas asked Goofy once Donald was out of hearing range The Knight simply smiled in turn. "The Magic Carpet! It would be a long walk probably, but with Carpet, it'll be a few minutes! A-hyuck!" Roxas felt himself twitch.

* * *

Roxas shifted out of pure agitation, his jaws grinding against one another; his hair was out of place. Frowning, the nobody ran his fingers through his hair, trying to comb it back into place. That carpet was sure fast. Aladdin wasn't accompanying them, he said something about seeing Genie. Taking a glance back at the carpet they had ridden, he did feel extremely guilty seeing the huge incision he had accidentally made. It didn't affect the carpet through flight, but it was uncomfortable to try to squeeze three passengers onboard while trying not to tear it back open. The ever present wind gusted about the small group, sending sand swirling up into mini sand storms as it passed through the massive debris field they found themselves in.

"Not much left." He muttered to himself, kicking what happened to be the steering column, watching as the piece of twisted metal rolled down a sandy embankment before coming to a halt.

Further, he could see both Donald and Goofy rummaging through the heaps in search for anything salvageable. So far, nothing was of any use. The fire did the worst damage, considering all their items and spare parts were locked up in the back end of the ship.

After a few minutes of searching, the three met up again, huddling. "Did you find anything?" Donald asked, looking up at Roxas who shook his head. "Nope. Not much to look at. Can't even tell what was what." The two nodded in agreement.

"I found something!" Goofy announced proudly, grinning as he lifted up the tattered but still recognizable portions of what looked to be like belts…the safety belts, all three of them.

Roxas snickered as Donald summoned his Save the Queen, giving out a loud noise of irritation before charging at Goofy. "That's not funny!" Goofy looked surprised, taking his own belt before throwing one to Roxas before leveling Donald a serious look. "There is nothing funny about safety Donald." The Knight scolded, waving his index at the duck. A loud whack resounded through the sandy area followed by a loud cry of pain.

"That hurt!!" Goofy cried, clinging to his head with Save the King protectively held out in front of him in case of another attack. Donald snorted, grabbing his own belt from Goofy. "And what are we suppose to do with these?" He asked, looking at Roxas who shrugged, fastening the fabric loosely around his waist. He had a belt, but if it made Goofy feel better, than so be it. Donald frowned and starred at the two. He moved to do the same as Roxas had done, but the belt slipped off his rounded form, earning laughs from his two companions.

Donald growled out a warning, moving once again to strike at the nearest person who so happened to be Roxas but tripped on the belt, falling beak first into the sand. The two erupted into laughter, not bothering to hide their amusement in the least. Donald shot up suddenly, arms and legs flailing around at his displeasure.

"Thundaga!" He shouted, causing lightening to fall from the sky. The two stopped laughing suddenly as the electricity shot up and down their bodies, the feeling sharp and somewhat painful as the magic coursed through their systems. For a brief moment, the two were paralyzed before the magic and effects began to dissipate, their cloths singed and smoking slightly. Once the magic faded, the two starred at a flustered Donald, eyes wide. Roxas looked to Goofy, breaking into a grin and nodding in an unheard agreement as Goofy nodded back.

Donald gave out a loud cry of surprise as Goofy threw his shield at him, smacking painfully with the side of his head and as Roxas threw a spell of his own at the stunned wizard. "Blizzaga!" Donald froze in place, teeth chattering violently. Gritting his teeth in irritation, Donald cracked the thick ice, leveling a glare at the two.

"Firaga!" Roxas ducked as flames shot out at various angels, hearing Goofy's cry as he was less fortunate. "Take this!" Roxas jumped back, aiming Oathkeeper at Donald as the Wizard readied an attack.

"Thundaga!"

"Reflega!"

The two spells were simultaneously released, the clear shield enveloping the pointed target, preventing the thunder from going anywhere else but inside the convenient bubble.

With more amusement than was probably necessary, they watched as the bright light from the spell slowly faded as did the shield. Roxas let out a whistle of approval, exchanging grins with Goofy who tried to stifle his laughter.

"Serves him right." Goofy piped up suddenly, laughing while throwing Donald a potion. The wizard lay in an odd angel, twitching slightly from agitation and the magic he delivered on himself. Once the potion took affect, he reached in to his vest pocket, sitting up and using an ether on himself. Roxas looked to Goofy and without any verbalization, the two took off running.

"Come back here!!"

The two came to an abrupt halt, and landed back with a thump from bouncing off of something very hard and metallic-like. "Oh geez…" Roxas muttered, curled up to his side and holding his aching head.

"Too many hits for today…" Goofy whispered, eyes looking up into the blue sky with little recognition of what he was staring at. Donald ran to their sides, slightly out of breath but still wearing a smile.

"Meet the Genie 250!" Roxas curled up tighter to himself, ignoring the voice and focusing on the pain.

Genie peered out from the cockpit of the newly constructed ship, and smiled sheepishly. In a show of his magical prowess, Genie had some how managed to put together a ship that could pass as airworthy if it were not buried partially in the desert sand.

"I hope you don't mind the color being blue, Genie wouldn't change the color." Aladdin popped up from a side exit in the ship, grinning.

"The sky is blue…" All eyes turned to the two laying on the sandy floor.

A shrill cry rang through the air, causing all that were near to cover their ears. "I hit them?!" Genie cried out, zooming to the two. "No," Donald replied. " I think they hit you." Genie looked at once relieved.

Hovering over the two, Genie cocked his head. "How did you two manage to run into it? Honestly--," Roxas quickly zoned out, allowing the throbbing in his head to throb on, effectively drowning out the gibberish flowing out of Genie's mouth.

"—quiet a big ship, no way I would have run--,"

"Genie, lets get these guys back to the palace." With the sentence spoken, a veil of blue covered the surrounding group and ship, and in an instant, they found themselves in the courtyard of the Palace.

Hefting himself up, Roxas sat up to stare at the ship sitting before him. The underside was a mix of red and blue. The top part and wings were a light blue, just about light enough to blend into the sky. Goofy rolled to his stomach and eyed the ship before breaking into a huge grin.

"Now what?"

* * *

A/N: I thought I would toss in Raja as an added character. No one really involves him. He's awesome! I haven't even started the next chapter, so it might be another long wait. But know, that I am working on it. Oh, and the dreams actually do have some meaning. It'll all make sense (hopefully) later on. Thanks for reading! 


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters…and that makes me sad…

**Author's Note:** Life has been a real hell as of late. Me and my boyfriend are in a long distance relationship, school is starting to sink and go the way of the Titanic, and worst of all, my life in general is going straight to hell. What else can go wrong? Sigh

I haven't been able to write as well or as much as I would have liked to, but the next chapter is in the works, so fear not. It has been too long since I've updated, and I apologize for it. But I've been throwing some other story ideas around, and maybe I'll post them, if not on my livejournal account.

Thank you all for reading, and I'll try to update real soon. Thank you for reviewing as well. You guys know who you are. I am groveling at your feet.

* * *

**Unforeseen**

**Agrabah**

The remainder of the time spent at Agrabah was somewhat boring. Left to his own devices, Roxas spent the time perched on the balcony of the second floor in the library, watching and waiting for a fury simian to take the bait he so temptingly laid out on the floor.

He recalled Aladdin telling him that Abu loved shiny things…so he spent a few moments looking at his key chains, determining which one was the shiniest. Now, Kingdom Key lay on the floor, seemingly forgotten with devious intentions in mind. The bait was set; now all that was left to do was wait and lounge about.

Soft padding drifted through the air until Donald stood over the crouching Nobody, frowning. "What are you---," Roxas gave Donald a side-long glance before breaking into a smirk when he realized he had company. The blond held up a finger to his lips, silencing the Wizard before gazing back down at the first floor of the library. Donald folded his arms over his chest, huffing but wandering closer to where Roxas crouched half hidden by the small pillars of the railing.

The two waited in silence. Minutes ticked by, but nothing happened. Donald made a move to get up after a few more minutes of nothing, but Roxas grabbed him, holding him down while pointing to a small object moving around on the first level. This got Donald's attention.

Grinning widely, Roxas waited anxiously, mischievous eyes watching every movement made by the monkey as he stealthily wander around the shiny blade. After a few fake moves to the keyblade, Abu finally made a dash for it. Roxas looked over at Donald smiling and nudging the duck to watch.

Abu desperately pried at the heavy object, infatuated with the way it glistened and felt beneath his paws. A few small noises of displeasure came from the small monkey, but after a few tugs, the key was moving behind Abu as he started for the opened door. Donald held back a laugh as the key nosily dragged behind Abu, the monkey ignoring this as he made away with his prize.

Slowly, Roxas held out his right hand, summoning the Kingdom key to his side. Abu gave a startled yelp as his prize suddenly vanished. In the blink of an eye, the monkey was gone, the screeching of distress following him down the hallway as he went.

Donald let loose the howl of laughter he held back, wiping the tears that had gathered. "That's the fifth time he's fallen for it." Roxas revealed, smile deepening as he held out his keyblade in a triumphant manner.

"Oh! Young Master!" Roxas froze, shoulders stiffening before standing, dismissing the Kingdom Key as he corrected himself. The blond leaned over the railing, and could barely catch sight of the white blur that was shooting up the stairwell up at their direction. The tiny pattering of shoes hitting the ground only confirmed it. Taking a breath, he relaxed. The Sultan he could deal with, it was the tiger he was on edge about.

The Sultan finally reached the top of the staircase and gasped for air. The blue feather fell in his face as he hunkered down, cheeks red and sweat dropping down in fine rivets.

When he finally caught his breath, he looked up and around the corner of the banister. "I have something to show you." He beckoned with a wave of his hand.

"Is something wrong?" Donald asked, frowning, taking his spot beside Roxas. The Sultan paused, and stared blankly at the Wizard.

"Oh my, no!" He laughed after a moment, dusting himself off with a grin. "I wish to show you something." He pointed to Roxas and closed the gap between them to take the others wrist. "The Knight is already waiting. We should not keep him waiting any longer!"

Roxas stumbled when the Sultan pulled him into action, taking him down the flight of stairs in a hurried rush. "You will enjoy this." He promised, laughing.

* * *

Goofy narrowed his eyes at Roxas, his hand resting on his chin, feigning deep thought as he surveyed the pieces. Roxas on the other hand was leaning back into his chair, arms folded and a smile curved so boldly upon his lips. The Sultan had insisted they try a form of 'entertainment' he deemed as exhilarating. The way Roxas could describe it, was a form of stacking blocks, but the blocks just happened to be intricately carved porcelain figurines of all types of animals. That was the basic concept so they stacked, and stacked they did.

The base of the massive tower contained at least twenty animals or so that slowly dwindled down to single digits into a nice pyramid shape as it ascended upwards.

It was Goofy's turn now, and the Knight was sweating profusely for it. With shaky hands, he held out the shape of a lion, and placed it gently on the back of a zebra. Slowly, he moved away his hand, and sighed in relief when the whole tower did not fall. Roxas pulled himself out of his seat, and examined the remaining animals left scattered about. They managed to do the easiest animals, but now came animals such as giraffe's and flamingo's…

Picking his desired piece, he decided on a neglected item pushed off to the left. Examining it closely, he could see why it had been neglected; one leg from the kangaroo was now missing. If he dared put the piece back, Goofy would be declared winner. Frowning, Roxas was not about to let that happen. Shrugging his shoulders, he loosened himself up and scooted closer to the edge of his seat while Goofy looked on. With a steady hand, he maneuvered the piece over the back of a hippo, and grinned madly when the one-legged animal did not topple over.

Goofy's face fell as he looked at the pile of animals. A sudden boom resounded through the whole palace, nearly shaking the structure off of its foundation. In one horrifying moment, Roxas watched his victory go unclaimed as the Kangaroo could not keep steady on its one leg and toppled over, sending all the pieces beneath it to the ground.

"I won! A-hyuck!" Goofy shot up with a smile, declaring to the world that he was the victor. "That's cheating." Roxas grumbled, staring at the animals strewn about.

Goofy opened his mouth to retort, but a sudden poof of blue smoke in between them stopped him. "Jasmine's coming!!" Genie announced, grabbing a fleeing Roxas into his awaiting arms and automatically began hugging him tightly.

With a swing of his free arm, Goofy was forced into the embrace as well. Hugging the two tightly to his body, Genie let out what sounded like a squeal before a resounding 'poof' was given off. Blinking, Roxas growled out a warning to the blue man who promptly dropped the boy.

Roxas stood and dusted himself off. Lifting his gaze, it dawned on him that they were outside. Goofy stood up beside him and patted his back in a comforting manner. "She's a really sweet heart." The Knight assured the teen with a smile.

"She is." Another voice agreed. Both turned their heads to stare at Aladdin who froze under their stares. Chuckling nervously, Aladdin ducked his head, trying his best to conceal the blush he was wearing. A blur of brown scampered up Aladdin's arm while black beady eyes stared at Roxas, shooting venom his way. Roxas could only manage a knowing grin, only enraging the monkey further. Abu huffed angrily as he sat on Aladdin's shoulder, arms crossed and a displeased look directed at him.

"I don't think he likes you anymore." Donald elbowed Roxas as he suddenly appeared with the aid of Genie. Casually, Roxas glanced down at Donald and raised a brow.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Donald opened his mouth to elaborate more but was shoved away with more effort than was necessary.

"Hey!" Donald cried as he crashed into the large feline form of Raja as the tiger sauntered by. In an instant, Raja's large triangular face was inches from Donald's, his eyes narrowed and a growl reverberating deep in his throat. Donald sunk back to the ground and darted for it, releasing a wail as he scrambled to safety. Roxas froze as the tiger's eyes landed on him. If a tiger could grin, this tiger was doing so.

Roxas felt himself unconsciously take a tentative step back when the tiger turned and headed in his direction. As if sensing his tension, Raja deliberately began to purr as he rubbed the whole length of his body against that of the boy, allowing the teen to feel his muscles flex with each calculated movement. Roxas barely managed to catch himself when the tiger pushed against his leg with quiet a bit of force.

"Aw!!" Genie cooed, but stopped when Roxas turned his attention to him, his blue eyes cold. "I think he likes you." Aladdin nodded to Genie's sentiment despite Abu's huff.

"That's because he already had a taste of me." Roxas gritted out though clenched teeth when Raja stopped to look up at him, a truly feral look in his eyes.

Donald surveyed the area they all now stood at before looking at Genie. "Where's Princess Jasmine?" Genie's face fell, and his eyes became impossibly wide. "I forgot!" He shouted before disappearing into a swirl of blue smoke.

"Forgot what?" Goofy questioned, but a hand shot out to grasp his muzzle shut.

"Shhh…here she comes!" Genie hissed through the cover of the smoke. A horn of some sorts bellowed from the tower overlooking the courtyard. "The Princess is coming!" A guard shouted. As if on cue, the palace gates started to groan and strain as they were pulled opened.

The Sultan rushed by the small welcoming part towards the opening gate. "Jasmine!" He shouted as a white horse cantered into the courtyard flanked by three brown horses each carrying armed guards.

"Father!" In one fluid leap, the princess was off of her horse and locked in an embrace with the Sultan.

"Surprise!!" Genie suddenly shouted before a flurry of fireworks went off in all shades of color and designs. Once the first firecracker went off, the horses reacted, each rearing and neighing in fright.

"Genie!!" Aladdin cried over the fireworks, but Genie's smile grew when he produced a small, cylinder container. The small pop given off was followed by an abundance of streamers and confetti that wrapped around the group and tangled into the trees and around the horse's hooves and saddles.

Princess Jasmine offered her father a small smile when the commotion died down, her hands swiftly untangling blue and yellow ribbons from her father's feather. Slowly, Aladdin made his way towards Jasmine, eyes downcast and an air of humility around him. Jasmine broke into a smile as he enclosed her in a tender hug. "Aw!" Jasmine simply smiled at the light-hearted mocking, her face bright and unfazed while Aladdin wore a look that one could describe as uncomfortable. Aladdin slowly snaked his hand up to lace their hands together, giving Jasmine a reassuring squeeze as the Sultan spoke.

"I know you just arrived dear, but these three have some urgent business!" Jasmine's brown eyes looked from Aladdin, to her father, and to the three standing a ways' off. "I know father…" She trailed off when she felt Aladdin's hold on her hand tighten.

"It's good to see you Donald, Goofy…..and…" She trailed off, and Roxas fought off the blush as her eyes focused on him. "This is Roxas your highness, we were sent on a mission." Donald filled in while giving a proper bow to the princess.

Roxas nodded hesitantly. "Were looking for So--," His mouth moved, but nothing came out. Donald frowned up at him. "Sora. We're looking for Sora's heart." Donald filled in, a wary eye on the Nobody beside him. Jasmine stared at the group in surprise. "The heartless have stolen his heart? That's terrible! Father didn't mention that in the letter."

"Uh…How did you get the letter that fast, your highness?" Goofy questioned to which Genie smiled. "I'll take the credit for that!"

"Genie! Carpet was the one who delivered the letter!" Genie cowered under Aladdin's disapproving glare. "Come on Al! It was just a joke! You need to lighten up a little." The usually level-headed street rat was literally seeping tension, his fists were balled up at his sides and his eyes were narrowed into daggers.

"Oh really Aladdin, you shouldn't be so upset." Jasmine scolded him, her brown eyes locking with his. The tension ebbed somewhat from Aladdin's body, and the young man reluctantly nodded.

"He's right---," The conversation slowly faded off as they made their way back into the palace, but Roxas cared little for it. He fell back from the group, his eyes troubled.

"So--," He gulped, trying his best to swallow the lump lodged deep in his throat.

"So--," He paused, and breathed out. "—ra."

"Sora…" Roxas tentatively tried the name again, and felt relieved when it flowed on his tongue naturally. "Roxas! Hurry up!" Goofy called out to him from the palace's main archway. "Sora." Relieved, Roxas looked up to the Knight and nodded to him. "We're leaving!" Donald called next, his foot tapping impatiently at the ground.

"Aw, I think someone wants to see Daisy again! Ah-yuck!" Roxas smiled faintly when Goofy gave a startled cry and ran from Donald, a blush on his beak and his staff in his hands. Quietly, he followed the two, his eyes focused on the sky.

"Sora…? How could I forget his name?!" He ground out, kicking a sole rock off to the side, his eyes burning with rage.

"Forget something?" He bit his tongue, his eyes locking with Genie whose face one again was too close for comfort. "Aladdin should go over personal space with you." Roxas snapped while backing away, eyes burning holes into Genie's head. "You're really annoying." With an open palm, he pushed Genie's face out of his line of vision. Genie's eyes widened, but no offense was taken as the magical being hovered inches from him.

"So, what did you forget?" Roxas simply ignored the magical man and pushed past him. But persistent as ever, Genie followed, gravitating around the blond nobody as he walked. "You're nothing like him." The simple sentence made Roxas stop cold and Genie also stopped his circling to stare at the boy.

"What do you mean?" Was the gritted response. Genie shrugged and began to float towards the Palace entrance, stopping only to look back at the boy. "You just remind me of someone, no need to get snippy mister." Roxas sighed but said nothing, choosing instead to continue to walk with Genie leading him.

"But that's a good thing. Being different is good." And with a poof, he was gone leaving Roxas to try and rid the headache Genie left him with.

* * *

A/n: Okay so this exactly wasn't the longest chapter in the world. But I felt the need to put in something's that the gang would have done while waiting. I got the idea for Roxas and Goofy playing that game with the animals from watching the movie when the Sultan is staking up the figurines. I love doing 'research'!!! And fear not! Riku and the King are on the way! A long wait, but they're coming! Please REVIEW! Thanks!


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the characters…and that makes me sad…

**Author's Note:** Finally! Whoa. I'm totally beat right now. I finally pulled my lazy, good for nothing ass into gear and wrote away. And yes, this one has Riku in it. If they're any misspellings or stuff along those lines, you can yell at me and I'll yell at Microsoft for not doing its job at spelling right. Yes, I do not have a beta. It's only me, myself and Microsoft word.

Amazingly enough what inspired me to continue writing was that commercial for Ha! That was super funny. The 'Don't fight Monday' one. God knows how I would lead the charge against that evil sun. Fight Monday with me!

Phoenix80hp: Year mark?!?! Really??? Its been that long? Now I feel super bad for not writing. I thank you for understanding. Life is hell. Thanks for reviewing!!

Midnight's Falling Star: I'm really glad you've enjoyed the story so far. I'll try not to let you down. Thanks for the encouragement. It really does help me along. Thanks soo much!!

And to the other reviewers that I have neglected to mention, I thank you. Please stay with me on this one, I have yet to come up with the steam necessary to pull this story off and finish it. But it still has a decent ways to go. Thanks to all who review and read.

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**Unforeseen**

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His hair hung like a silver curtain around his face, shielding his view from all that was around him. The jagged edges of his hair line danced in his face with every breath he took through his chapped lips. For several minutes, he sat hunched over at the edge of the cot. His whole body felt heavy and it took him quiet a while to finally get his body to obey him enough to sit up.

His fists clung to the metal railing lining the somewhat stiff cushion as his thoughts raced. He had no idea how long he was up, but he made no move to check. Time really didn't matter to him, but the single thought racing through his head.

He had almost lost his heart.

The chill of space was sending shivers down through his body. His upper body was exposed, and he only found himself clad in his boxers. Shifting, he yanked the blanket behind him to wrap around his bare skin. The cool fabric did not have the warmth he was seeking, but it was a start.

The Gummi Ship was humming as it sped along through space, undoubtedly heading towards the Castle. Over the noise of the ship, the sound of footsteps drawing closer had his attention.

A sudden gasp had his eyes meeting Snow White's. Her eyes were wide, but she had a small smile. Her yellow dress fanned out as she spun around to face the direction she had just emerged from.

"King Mickey! He's awake!" Although her voice wavered ever so slightly, she did not cry or shed a single tear. She turned her attention back to the teen, her smile had faded slightly and it would have been impossible to have noticed if it were not for the fact that she was radiating guilt.

"I'm sorry…I--," Her voice failed her, and she swallowed thickly. "I didn't mean for this to happen." It came out in a rush, barely understandable.

He was a little stunned, but shook his head slowly, his eyes trailing down his chest to see a faint mark where the Step-mothers dagger had pierced through. Although it was barely visible, he could literally feel the darkness that the weapon left imbedded in his body. For a moment, he didn't say anything, and the two were left in an awkward silence.

"Don't be." His voice was raspy and his throat ached at the simple sentence.

"If I had know, I would not have asked--," Riku was about to cut her off when a faint sound caught his ear. The sound came closer, and he could recognize the frantic footsteps of King Mickey as he approached at a fast pace.

A blur of black and red shot at him quicker than he had anticipated. "Riku!!" Riku found himself being lunged for by the King. Thin arms wrapped around his neck, squeezing while avoiding Riku's curious gaze. A splash of liquid fell onto his bare chest causing muscles to tense as the cold liquid dribbled downward. The mouse king latched onto Riku, hugging him as if it were the last time he would get the chance to do so.

He could barely recall what had happened…all had went black after a while. But the way the King was reacting…he felt himself shiver when another tear fell onto his chest.

The King sniffled slightly before looking up at Riku, his eyes brimming with unshed tears. "I didn't think it would be enough."

Gently, he pushed the King back to look at him. "What are--," The King cut him off with a soft chuckle, it sounded almost forced. "I used Curaga on you…it was barely enough. When you didn't wake up I thought…" King Mickey gulped, and looked away. "_We_ thought it wouldn't be enough." His aqua eyes looked from the King to Snow White to see her staring at the far end of the ship.

"Were almost at the castle…" For some reason, he didn't sound excited about it, and his face was drawn into a look of uncertainty.

"When we get there, I want you to stay with Kairi and Queen Minnie." The King's voice was soft, but stern. Riku was stunned into silence for a moment, but he recovered quickly enough. "You know I'm not going to do that."

It was the expected answer, but the King held strong and jumped off of Riku with one fluid move. He landed with a loud clank, his shoulder squared with his back to the silver-haired teen. "Do as I ask, Riku. It's an order."

"You are **not** _my_ king." It came out harsher than he intended it too, and he was about to apologize when King Mickey raised a hand to silence him. With a sigh, King Mickey glanced back to his companion, his eyes betraying him.

"You two better get seated, we're almost there."

* * *

The bright lights of the docking bay had Riku squinting his eyes until they became better focused to their intensity. Before him, the King was walking down the plank with as much poise as he could muster, but that all fell apart once he caught sight of his Queen; her dress billowing out around her as she ran to greet her King. In one single jump, she was in his arms, and the pair twirled around, the happiness they were emitting was almost nauseating.

"Oh Mickey!" Riku forced his eyes away from the romantic reunion. His aqua eyes landed on Snow White who stood at his side with a soft smile on her lips, her eyes set on the two reuniting.

"You think they haven't seen each other in months." He grumbled, and Snow White looked at him. Her eyes seemed to glimmer as she spoke. "Love is something that you can never get enough of…" She trailed off with a small giggle. Riku felt his face contort into a look of disgust.

"It's good to be home." The King smiled as he spoke, walking up the flight of stairs with Queen Minnie firmly at his side.

Snow White hiked up her yellow dress with her right hand and made a slow decent on the Gummi's plank with Riku holding onto her left, just incase she were to fall.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Two high-pitched voices shouted at the top of the stairs. The King stopped walking, looking up from the slab of stairs to the two chipmunk mechanics – each trying to talk over one another resulting in a muddled mess of words and curses despite the King's presence.

Dale hastily reached over and clamped a furred paw over Chip's chattering lips. "We lost contact!" That simple sentence was met with silence. In a few leaps, the King was settled beside the two, eyes serious.

"When was the last time you were able to communicate with them?"

"They were under attack when we last made contact." Chip explained as both he and Dale scampered their way up the console, typing away feverishly for answers the King demanded. "They were above Agrabah..." Dale finished, looking up at the King.

There was a moment of silence before the King spoke, clearing his throat and his mind of the possibility of losing two of his best friends.

"They'll be okay. We just have to believe in them. But keep an ear out incase they do some how make contact. We still need to go retrieve Cinderella and Aurora." The King paused, glancing back at Riku before smiling. "Besides, they've been in worse situations before."

"This way Snow White." The king beckoned her as he turned on a dime towards the opening leading to the court yard.

Riku sighed; he just couldn't believe how optimistic the King could be sometimes. "Well…are you guys coming?" The King asked, seeing as they were not following him.

"Of course your Majesty." Snow White curtsied respectfully; taking the King's lead and following behind him and his Queen.

"I'm going to look for Kairi." Riku called out to the King, who paused and glanced over to him, his eyes piercing into his own. "Keep her and Minnie safe, I'm counting on you Riku." Queen Minnie opened her mouth to question, but her King was already walking down the hall. She sent Riku a questioning look but got nothing in return other than a shrug.

"He'll explain…" Snow White spoke, trying her best to ease the worry that the Queen was emitting. Minnie looked unhappy but sighed, her face dropping its guard as she started to walk. "I just worry, it's so much to oversee, and now that Sora's gone…," Her voice dropped into a whisper, "The heartless have increased dramatically, every day we are getting reports of words disappearing." Snow White eyed the ground, but said nothing.

"Your world is safe, Snow White." She offered, their dresses crinkling and swishing as they walked.

"But for how much longer?" Queen Minnie sighed, but shook her head, her eyes filled with emotion. "I honestly don't know, but with the way things are going, things will get better in no time." Snow White smiled, her heart lifted at the Queen's words.

"We'll do our best for your world and the others out there that need our help. That is our duty." The King spoke as they rounded the corner into their library.

"I see the others were here." The King motioned to Alice once he entered the library, who sat with a cup of tea in her hands.

"Yes…they couldn't bring Belle, so they were headed towards Agrabah when Chip and Dale told me that they couldn't contact them." The King nodded slowly, but smiled up at Snow White, ushering her into the expansive room lined with all types of books and scrolls.

"Oh! I remember you!" Alice exclaimed as she became aware to their presence. With a clatter, she sat her tea cup against a small serving dish and jumped to her feet. Her blue eyes were sparkling with happiness as she skipped up to Snow White. "Do sit with me! I always wondered what became of the others like me." Snow White could only smile at the girl's youthful enthusiasm and simply followed as she was led back to the couch Alice was seated on before.

"Riku will be staying here with you and Kairi." The King informed his Queen, his eyes adverting from hers to the two princesses who sat in a deep conversation. "Do you mind telling me why?" The King tensed slightly, his face dropping into a look of guilt.

"Right now, I rather not talk about it." He admitted, and gave Minnie a slight smile. "Just trust in me that I am doing what is right." He could only watch as her eyes took on a look of hurt.

"I always have trusted you, Mickey. But please, don't do this on your own…" She closed the distance between her and her King, and buried her face into his neck. "I lost you once…to the darkness. I feared I would never see you again..."

King Mickey nodded slowly in understanding as she talked, and wrapped his Queen up in his arms when she shakily inhaled. "Please, be more careful." Mickey chuckled and smiled, causing Minnie to look up at him, a curious expression on her face.

"Gosh Minnie, I always have been careful. And as long as you wait for me, I will keep returning." Queen Minnie took a step back and smiled at her King.

"Now go and get everything ready, I'll take care of the Castle." She ushered him out of the library with a soft shove. "Not with out a kiss." She shook her head, but didn't bother to hide her smile and gladly obliged her King.

* * *

The castle was oddly quiet save for the rhythmic clanking of his shoes against the ground. The endless amounts of servants were nowhere to be seen and the temperature was a bit on the frigid side. Riku exhaled through his mouth, creating a fine mist as the hot air came in contact with the cool air. His arms were lining up with goose bumps, and hairs on the back of his neck were beginning to bristle.

The candles lining the hall were beginning to flicker. Riku swore under his breath and summoned his keyblade in a flash. From the darkening hall, he could make out yellow eyes that stared out at him from a particularly dark corner. The shadows began to take on a form around those piercing eyes, but the figure was too distorted and hidden to be fully seen.

_Riku…_

He couldn't contain the shiver that tore down his body. "Who's there?!" He demanded, eyes blazing. No answer came. He took a step forward when a stream of light fell on him. The creature he faced let out a small screech and disappeared – taking the darkness with it.

"Riku? What are you doing?" Kairi asked from the opened doorway. Her eyes scanned the area before turning back to Riku. The silver haired teen shook his head, his Keyblade vanishing once he felt the threat was gone.

"I don't know…it looked like a Heartless…but…" He stopped himself, and shrugged.

"You know me Kairi. Always imagining things..." She rolled her eyes at him and opened the door she leaned on a bit further.

"Well, I hope whatever bumped you on your head knocked at least _some _sense into you." Riku stopped mid-step and caught her eyeing the way he held his side. He mentally kicked himself.

"Ya well, considering it was Maleficent's tail, I think I have too much sense now." He chuckled uneasily when he stepped into the room, but she only stared at him as she closed the door behind them.

"Maleficent? Are you ok?" He scoffed and slumped on the chair in front of the fireplace. The warmth of the fire chased away the unforgiving cold he faced in the hallway. "I'm fine. Snow White is here…who else is here?" Kairi seated herself at the bed where Sora lay.

"Only Alice. The others left a few days ago to get Jasmine." Riku nodded, his lips pulled into a frown. "I hope they're ok." Kairi nodded, her eyes still observing him. "Would you quit it?!" He snapped and instantly regretted when Kairi flinched and quickly looked else where.

"Sorry." The room became quiet; the only noise was that of the fire and the ruffling of clothing. Riku finally heaved a sigh, and stood up. "I guess you're stuck with me a bit longer. The King ordered me to stay here." Kairi's eyes widened and he could clearly see the surprise written on her face.

"Well," She stated after a moment before smiling. "At least I have company and now I can explore the castle! You've been here before, right?" Riku paused, thinking of where King Mickey actually showed him.

"I think I can help you there." He grinned back at her.

* * *

The sun had long ago gone down, and now the only thing illuminating the kingdom were well placed torches and the bright light of the full moon. All in the castle had either retired for the night or were residing in their given rooms.

The silence of the night was effectively shattered as the door to his throne was thrown open and out popped two frantic Gummi mechanics tripping over one another in their haste to their King. The two royals head's snapped up at the sound, both surprised at the late night interruption.

"Sir! We have an unknown ship heading this way!" Both Chip and Dale shouted simultaneously, arms waving about frantically.

King Mickey turned to his Queen, still in royal garb, and gave her hand one last squeeze before running after the disappearing mechanics.

When King Mickey entered the docking area, he became aware that Chip and Dale were already arming the defensive systems. "Ready when you are your Majesty! Well blow them out of the sky!" Chip offered, his tail wagging at the prospect of blowing something up.

"Blow us up?! Why I ough'ta…." A voice snapped over the intercom system. All at once, King Mickey relaxed, and Chip sighed dejectedly before disarming the world's system.

The King stepped closer to the control console and pressed the button to communicate with the ship. "Good to hear you all are alright." There was a moment of silence before a response came.

"We're sorry your Majesty, we didn't mean to worry you." Donald responded, his earlier rage turned into a respectful tone and in the background, he could hear Goofy shouting to say his piece.

"I'm just glad you guys are safe."

"Brace yourselves! They're coming in!" Chip shouted, but no horrendous noise came, not even a gust of wind.

In a flash, a blue and red Gummi ship appeared from the tunnel of light, its metallic body still glimmering from the transition from space.

"Wow! I've never seen that design!" Dale shouted his excitement as his tail wagged. Chip nodded, jumping up and down next to Dale with enthusiasm. "And it's silent too!" With a clank, the ship landed and gave one last gust of energy before the engines began to shut off.

The side door slid opened, and two familiar faces peaked out. "Hi ya your Majesty!" Goofy waved as he clambered down the lowered plank with Donald in tow. Roxas followed shortly with Jasmine. The princess from Agrabah surveyed the foreign area before following Roxas who stopped to wait for her.

The King noticed almost immediately the object Roxas held at arms length away. Jasmine leaned in towards Roxas, looking from the object to his face with a small, knowing grin.

"He's not all that bad." Roxas snorted and looked back at the princess as they descended.

"Aladdin said that too." That had Jasmine laughing.

"Roxas!" The Nobody glanced down at where Chip and Dale were scurrying up his pant legs, clinging as if they belong their. "Where did you get the ship?" The one he assumed to be Dale asked. Twin beady eyes stared up at him with their little tails wagging up a storm. Refraining from shaking them off of him, he smirked down at them – kneeling down so that he was at their level.

The two jumped off of his leg and waited hopefully. "Well, here's where it came from." Roxas shifted the golden lamp in his grasp for the two to see. He set down the object and stood, walking out of the docking bay and out of the immediate vicinity.

"Princess Jasmine, it's an honor to see you again." King Mickey's voice drifted above all the chatter in the Gummi dock as he fell into a polite bow.

"King Mickey, it's good to see you as well. It has been a while." Jasmine embraced the King before settling at his side, eyes drifting to where Chip and Dale were trying to take the lip off of the lamp.

"What is it?" King Mickey questioned quietly so that the curious chipmunks could not hear him.

"_That's_ the condition."

King Mickey looked from the lamp to Donald and Goofy. His companions shrugged, unable to come up with a better explanation. "Aladdin didn't want Jasmine coming alone, your Majesty…so Genie offered to come with her."

"Isn't that a summon?" Chip leaned over the spout of the old oil lamp, eyeing the hole curiously. "How did a Gummi Ship come out of here?" He questioned Dale who scratched his head in response.

"I think you're suppose to rub it, right Donald?" Donald elbowed the Knight, each looking a little _too _innocent.

King Mickey opened his mouth to question them when a cry left Chip's lips as blue smoke began to pour out of the spout, knocking the mechanic back.

"Your Majesty, we're off to rest." Donald saluted hastily before darting in the direction of their rooms. "Goodnight Your Majesty!" Goofy saluted as well as he ran.

"I wonder what's up with them." Jasmine merely giggled.

* * *

The dead of the night suited him. The quiet, the peace of it all just seemed to call out to him. It truly did feel good to get away from Donald and Goofy. There was no loud obnoxious laughter, no whiny voices -- only absolute quiet.

He inhaled deeply, the cool night air filling his lungs. He had to admit that he was use to the quiet. When he used to patrol for the organization, on the rare times he was left alone without supervision, he would enjoy the solitude, soaking it up like a sponge.

Now, all that was around him…was solitude.

A distant giggle shot straight through his silence. Roxas stopped walking down the hall to glance behind him. With a quick glance to the nearest window, he frowned. It was still dark out, shouldn't everyone have been asleep? In a blur of both red and pink, Kairi shot around the corner, her head turned to look behind her as she ran. Roxas barely had enough time to catch her before she rammed into him.

"What's wrong?" He looked from Kairi's flustered face to the empty hallway behind her, scanning for anything following her. It was only then did she notice his presence. She backed away from him, breathing heavily and smiling.

"You're back! Don't tell Riku you saw me." She pleaded, eyes begging. Roxas nodded slowly. Kairi gave him a quick hug before bounding down the hall and disappearing from sight. He stared in the direction she disappeared in before thudding footsteps echoed down the hall from behind him.

"Where is she?!" Roxas spun around to see a very prettied Riku. Roxas snorted as the other keyblade wielder stormed up to him.

"What happened to you?" He couldn't help but laugh, but the pretty way his hair was braided and separated -- he really couldn't be blamed.

Riku tore a blue bow from his hair and slammed it to the floor. "What does it look like?! I tried to get some rest but she did _this_ to me." He hissed, breaking up a braided lock of hair. Riku narrowed his eyes at Roxas, muttering about wishing he wasn't a heavy sleeper.

"Did you just get back?" Roxas nodded, still smirking. He began walking off, waving to the other with a smirk.

"Those ribbons bring out your eyes, Ri-ku." The voice rang familiar in his mind, nothing like Roxas would say or could possible imitate. Riku stopped his fusing to stare at Roxas.

"What did you say?" Roxas stopped walking and shrugged.

"Riku…Why?" The smirk on the blond quickly came back. "Those braids on a little too tight for you?" There was the same teasing again, but not like the one he had previously heard….not the same voice.

"It's…nothing. I just thought I heard something else."

Roxas slowly nodded, looking doubtfully at the silver haired teen. "Wouldn't doubt it." The blond muttered to himself. Riku didn't snap back if he heard the comment, only continued to stare.

Pursing his lips, Roxas stepped back. Eyeing Riku one last time, he continued towards his room, not bothering to stop once he passed the room that held Sora. A part of him was persistent, a fading connection that longed to rejoin with his other - to reconnect, to regain what he was slowly beginning to lose. He fought off the urge and walked a few more steps to his room. He could no longer feel the piercing gaze of Riku on him as he entered his room.

He slid the door close, and leaned against it. His eyes slid shut when he felt a sudden change in temperature. Opening his eyes, he became aware that the room he was in was far too dark. Usually, he recalled, the fireplaces were lit as well as the candles placed in key areas.

All the candles were off. He backtracked, and was certain that all the candles were on when he came in. He kept his breathing even, even upon hearing a faint hiss awfully close to his right ear. The temperature plummeted even more as he felt something draw closer to him, his skin pricked when a clawed hand wrapped around his wrist and another landed on his waist. The claws dug into his skin, but the pain was numbed out as the shadow of a body pressed up against his own, trying to mold with him.

Not once did the thought to fight the creature off enter his mind. He simply stared at the hand covered by darkness. The wisps of dark clouds the flowed off of the body encircled his wrist, traveling upward until it firmly latched onto his bicep just underneath the sleeve of his vest.

His eyelids were becoming heavy; thoughts that felt foreign barraged his mind, thoughts that persistently worked at him.

He inhaled deeply – the darkness around him leapt at the chance, taking the opportunity to flow into his body.

"Roxas?" The darkness faded instantly. Without the cold hands on his body holding him up, he fell forward, landing with a thud onto the cold marble.

Kairi scrambled out from underneath his bed. "I didn't know this was your room! I swear! I thought Dona--" She panicked, her face flaming red from embarrassment. Her eyes struggled to adjust to the dark room. Picking herself up from the floor, she fumbled towards the door. Her shoe hit something not yet solid, but not quiet soft.

"Roxas?" She crouched down, and felt for his shoulders. She maneuvered him until he was on his side and with a hand on each side, she shook him firmly, but he did not stir.

"Roxas." She tried again, this time louder. She leaned in closer, and could make out the outline of his face despite it being incredibly dark. His eyes stared out through a hooded gaze at nothing. "Roxas."

A growl from behind her made her freeze. Taking her eyes off of Roxas, she could see yellow eyes beginning to appear around her. _'Heartless!'_ Namine's panicked voice shot through her mind, sparking her into action.

"Riku!" The heartless lunged for her, and all hell erupted.

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**A/N:** Finally, it's done…the chappie that is. I wish it was done. Hehehe. Its about…1 in the morning right now. Man, I really had the urge to get this down. Forgive the misspellings…I'm far too sleepy to re-check this one.

Forgive! The whole Riku and Roxas encounter was inspired by the clip from Final Mix, (how I wish I have it) where Riku fights Roxas and Roxas responds in Sora's voice. Awesome. Just something that was bouncing around in my mind. Hope no one got confused on that. Love to all! Happy New Year (a little late) and all that good stuff.


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